Ryuko & Outcast
by richadrt
Summary: A teenage male voted "most violent student" for three years at Honnōji Academy meets a woman who might have him beat. The two quickly bond over their hatred of the school's president, and start planning how to get away with murder.
1. New VP

_**[Double quotes are dialogue. Single quotes are first-person dialogue.]**_

No doubt about it, attending Honnōji Academy really sucked. There were other schools that were worse in an absolute sense, but from the day I got my first uniform, I was always thinking of the day I'd graduate. If I could get through without ever having to see Satsuki's eyebrows again, I'd take my Two-Star, live off the grid, and maybe by the time I came out the world wouldn't be so obsessed with fashion.

Given REVOCS almost had full market share by then, I think I was being too hopeful. After three years at Honnōji, two years with Fight Club and one year of heading it, I had managed to climb to Two-Star. Three-Star would've meant getting in to Satsuki's personal Elite Four. I didn't think the luxury would be worth selling my soul, to use a cliché.

My teacher was droning on about Nazis that day, or something. I didn't pay attention to anything besides how to fight, though the real special day wouldn't be until Friday. I'd just started to daydream about it when Satsuki's voice filled the school.

"Fight Club's President - report to Student Council's office."

I sighed and stood up, slinging my bag on. She'd started to call me out randomly since I got my Two-Star, and though she had said it was because Mooka wasn't around to discipline me anymore, she really just enjoyed seeing me reduced to janitor.

As I went out to the hall, I pulled my hood over my head and felt both disappear, giving me the appearance of a neck-only dreadnought. Two extra arms burst out of the back. I'd had it made for intimidation, though the Elite Four taunted me whenever they could about it.

Student Council's office was on the other end of school, and I didn't run in to anyone else on my way to the elevator. Once I took it up, Satsuki was there with her legs over the longtable. Wrappers, melted chocolate, candy, and other liquid I didn't ask about were on the floor.

"Go." She grinned. "Get to it."

'Caterpillar' wouldn't have begun to describe her eyebrows. Two black erasers, the standalone type that artists get. Her long hair wasn't much better, and as expected, she was wearing a white military uniform with gold epaulettes.

'Yes, Lady Satsuki.'

I set my four arms to work. Upper-right, upper-left, lower-right, lower-left - ice, wind, fire, lightning. The spray of boiling water and grind of scrubbing numbed my headless ears. My wind arm vacuumed the burning trash's smoke. Once I got to Satsuki's side of the room, she looked at me like I was a peasant.

"If you're curious on the mess," she said, "I invited a dozen other club presidents here last night. Recruitment. Future employment opportunities."

I pretended my water was too loud to notice. Satsuki's taunting had never bothered me, as I wasn't some angst-filled teenager. I started thinking about what I'd do when I got home. I'd started doing two hundred uniformless pullups a day. My overhead press had started stagnating. I hated squatting, but I hated being weak more.

"A few of them were talking about you." she said. "Starting your, what - fourth-year at Honnōji? - and not a single friend to show for it." She laughed. "Even Mooka could barely stand you."

Eventually I finished, keeping on my hands&knees and wondering how long she'd go this time.

"What do you think of that?"

'Is she still in the hospital?' I laughed, having put her there.

Satsuki laughed too, which bothered me more than the taunting. "She's in a no-star hospital - she'll probably be there for the rest of her life."

I decided not to make any more jokes. She made me double-check the room, and had just sent me off when the elevator doors opened -

\- and I dropped immediately to my hands&knees again, trying not to sigh at my extended stay. Four sets of bootsteps came up to me.

"What - you're still making him do this shit?" laughed Nonon's catshriek above, and the five started laughing.

"He has four arms - I might as well put them to use." laughed Satsuki, and I heard her stand up. "Four arms - a perfect uniform for cleaning - and he even has jokes."

"He'd make a wonderful butler." said Inumata's nasally voice above. "Some big, retarded oaf - no use other than cleaning."

(People liked to think that jocks were mean to nerds because of insecurity, but given how Inumata had always treated me, I think the other half had more to prove.)

One of them yanked my hood back to my neck, revealing both, and they started laughing. I'd gone through it enough that it never bothered me, since I knew it was more scripted than anything. Once or twice I'd get envious people like them could be rich in the real world, but I'd shove that energy in to training.

" - it really is a ridiculous fucking haircut." I heard Inumata laugh near the end of it, though he was the only one by then. (Again, jocks & nerds.) "Like you - like you had it cut with, oh, a - a screwdriver."

I kneeled through another few minutes of jokes. Satsuki gripped me up and threw me in to the elevator back down to Honnōji.

* * *

My teacher was still droning on about Nazis by the time Friday came, but today was a special Friday. The first week always left Fight Club busy, and Satsuki never called me out then.

"… dismissed." he sighed, the only word I had heard in the last hour. We got up, put our bags on, made sure our desks were clear, and set out to the hall. I went down against the crowd; but people respected the two stars on my collar over a neck that I thought looked steroidal.

When I got up to room 237, Tanaka was already there. He didn't have the neck, but his parents had donated enough to the school to get a One-Star.

"Yo, Outcast." (Don't ask. It was on my birth certificate.)

'Tanaka.'

I stepped in to the room, one of the wider ones the school had. The desks were already gone and cleared. I saw a few students huddled in the corner like they were afraid of me, television overhead.

"Time to watch the show." he shrugged, gesturing to the show.

Satsuki's face filled the screen. "Honnōji Academy! Curfew begins in five minutes! Club - home - or a beating! Make your choice!"

"Club, home, or a beating." said Tanaka. He still had that ridiculous wizard's hat on. "Club."

'Club.' I muttered, turning back to close the door as I heard someone's footsteps. They were clearly of a woman's - or Inumata's - so I figured it might've been Nonon. If I ran in to her solo, she always made me crouch down to speak with her; which was odd, as I thought it'd be offensive to point out the massive height differential.

Everyone had their eyes on my boots when I turned back - even Tanaka. We'd only known each other for a few months, and seeing me beat the previous Fight Club president, Mooka, still had them scared. Even if it made me feel like the Elite Four, I didn't entirely mind it.

"Are we going to wait for curfew?" said Tanaka.

'Doubt anyone else is coming. Jakazure might be checking in, so -'

\- the door opened, and in stepped a woman I had never seen before.

She was a few inches shorter than me, black hair hiding red streaks underneath. She was wearing a dark purple schoolgirl uniform with one eyepatch and one eye at the chest, red pupil and orange instead of white; and a red glove on her left hand. I thought I saw a sword on her back.

"Is this Fight Club?"

My vice-president huddled to my right as the room scattered for her.

'It is - sorry - who are you?'

"Ryuko. Ryuko Matoi."

"She fought Satsuki the first day, man. Looking for her father's killer? You didn't see it?" whispered Tanaka.

'He's telling me you fought Satsuki your first day, and you're looking for your father's killer.' I said, gesturing to the gossiper at my right. I wasn't about to start off by making her think I was secretive.

That, and I thought she was ridiculously hot.

"Yeah. He's right." said Ryuko, who I thought was ridiculously hot. "You can guess why I'm here, yeah?"

'Definitely can.' I waved away the gossiper. 'You already know how this goes, then?'

"I wouldn't be coming here if I didn't."

"I can handle it, Outcast." Tanaka stepped forward. Ryuko started smiling, but it was to me, not him. "She lost, anyway."

'Rest of you.' I gestured to the five other members. She was clearly arrogant; I liked it. 'Fight her. If you get through them - then we'll talk.'

"Sounds good to me." She laughed as the six stepped up. "Life Fiber - Synchronization - Senketsu."

Her skirt started growing past her knees and clinging to her legs, and her white sneakers turned to armored black. The rest of her uniform extended to black&blue armor, and her outfit's eyes broke out of her shoulders. I knew she must've had a one or two-star, at least.

It looked pretty sweet. I almost saw Tanaka get scared when she pulled her weapon off her back, shaped like one-half of a scissor, and as the six rushed towards her -

\- she sliced six times with the speed of light -

\- and shredded their uniforms off, underwear still surviving - fortunately. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence at Honnōji, but she had both my halves' attention by then.

"That it?" She laughed, and the undressed messes rushed out to save their honor.

I had expected more out of Tanaka, but I shrugged anyway. 'Guess that makes you new vice-president.'

She smiled and laughed. "Not president?"

'That's me - obviously.'

"Let's go, then."

We started to circle. I pulled my hood over my head and felt both disappear, giving me the appearance of a neck-only dreadnought. Two extra arms burst out of the back. Upper-right, upper-left, lower-right, lower-left - ice, wind, fire, lightning.

"Ready?" she grinned, one-hand taut on her uniform, one-hand on her blade.

'Whenever you're -'

" - Senketsu - strands!" she shouted, and in the next instant -

\- a dozen strands burst out of her uniform and shot to my arms, red ropes coiling around, and as she rushed towards me -

' - Worldwide!'

\- the strands at my lower-right burst in to flames, sudden embers shooting with the speed of fire down towards her -

\- but a sweep of her blade severed the connections, freeing us both, thirty feet between us.

"Got a name for your uniform?" she chimed.

'Are you trying to distract me?'

"Maybe."

With a wink, she started her rush at me again -

\- and a gust of wind from my upper-left arm blasted her with the strength of a dozen away, back smashing the wall as she flew, fortunately reinforced specifically for my room.

She shot to her feet again, glancing back as if checking the wall's durability; with a nod, she started her rush again -

\- and the wind blew her back to the wall again; but the next scene was instant.

A sawblade formed at her midsection, spinning and carving through the wall; and in to the sudden hole she swept and disappeared, carving through the reinforced innards, my eyes spinning around as I heard the rat scurrying.

A rumbling began from the wall behind, and in the next instant -

\- she burst out of the barrier; I turned, upper-right arm sweeping down -

\- and turning the floor to ice; she stumbled and slipped, sudden frictionless counter too quick for her, and as she slid head-first in to me -

\- she twitched as my electrical current entered the floor, staggering and grunting as she stood again, blade outstretched -

\- and a gust of wind blew her back to the wall again, ice starting to melt as we circled again.

Electrical arm readied, I crouched down to send a second surge, seeing her strands shoot to the wall behind -

\- and yanking a section out of it. Before I could react -

\- the concrete projectile smashed my skull; the pain&stars staggered me back, Ryuko rushing ahead and throwing her strands to the ceiling -

\- and yanking herself up, boots readying to meet my skull as she swung forward -

\- but a gust of wind blast her back in to the ceiling; the pain unclenching her grip and dropping her blade. A second and third gust of wind kept her temporarily trapped above. I grabbed her blade -

" - sawblade!" she shouted, falling back on to me -

\- and I swept with the speed of light back as she landed, pilfered blade safe in my electrical hand. A set of strands shot to my grip, and she yanked her blade back to her, leaving me sighing as she laughed.

Returned blade outstretched, she ran at me once more; once more, a gust of wind blasted her back, and as she flew -

\- the next scene was instant.

A dozen strands burst out of her back and shot to the floor, tethering her as a rubberband, and as it launched her with the speed of light back at me -

\- her blade met with my electrical arm, and as the current entered the metal -

\- she dropped her blade, sudden claws bursting out of her glove -

\- and her grip shot to my neck, threatening a shredded choking if I moved, strands keeping her rooted to her position.

'…shit.' I muttered. I'd seen plenty of fights end like this before. You'd wonder what you could've done to get out, but this time, I knew it was best just to save energy for the rest.

"Concede?" she chimed. She didn't seem to think less of me for losing, fortunately.

'If you say so.' I grinned, and she released her grip. 'Much better challenge than what I usually get.'

"Guess I did just doom all your club members to poverty, though."

'They'll find some way to pay for the repairs. Still. You're a pretty good fighter.'

"You too."

She leaned against the wall. I hoped she wasn't nervous about me leaning next to her.

'Do you want to go again?'

She shrugged, then yawned. "Give me a bit. Didn't get much sleep last night."

'Could've fooled me.' I smiled.

"It happens, when you don't have a place to sleep besides a park bench."

'You… don't have a place to live?'

"Nope." She sighed. "Been sleeping in the streets. Figure I can defend myself against anyone who tries shit."

I knew an opportunity when I heard one. My protective drive was already starting up, but if I pushed too early, she'd realize it.

'Do you need… uh, food? Dinner?'

She glanced at me. "…yeah. Actually. Been buying street ramen for the last week."

'I've got plenty to eat, if you want to come visit.'

"It beats the streets." She shrugged. "Two-Star district, right?"

'Yeah. Do you want to head over now?'

"Sounds good." She smiled. I could tell she was starting to like me despite the bruises. We went out to the hall and I gestured back down, not the way her or I had come.

'Here. Quicker if we go out this way.' I glanced behind. '… less chance of. You know. Ira.'

"I know." Ryuko laughed, and we went back, took a left. (It wasn't actually shorter. I just thought it'd endear me to her.)

We didn't dare talk until we got to the front doors. Honnōji had what felt like a hundred steps down at the front, and as we went outside -

\- I dropped to my hands and knees. I'd only just done it before they came up the stairs.

Out of my eye's ceilings, I felt four approach me. They didn't have Gamagoori with them. Ryuko hadn't moved.

"Your new dog, Ryuko?" said Satsuki. She leaned one boot on my neck and started grinding down.

"A real bulldog." Nonon laughed. "A nice two-star collar."

"What about a collar that says 'Ryuko's Bitch'?" said Inumata's nasally voice above. (Again, jocks&nerds.)

In any other situation, I might've considered the logistics of being Ryuko's bitch.

"C'mon, Miss Matoi. Make him bark." said Nonon. "He your new boyfriend?"

"If he barks, will you leave?" sighed Ryuko.

"Of course." said Satsuki. I didn't have to look to see that grin growing as she took her boot off. "Come. Bark."

"He won't do it unless she tells him to." said Inumata. "Ryuko's bitch. What a good dog. Maybe he's neutered."

"Outcast." muttered Ryuko. "Bark."

I barked, and felt some relief at only four laughs coming.

"How well-trained." said Satsuki. "I have something to tell your dog in private. Elite Four - leave."

Three sets of bootsteps went by me.

"He doesn't speak Japanese." said Ryuko.

"I'm certain he'll understand it. I'll return him back to you once I've finished."

I heard Ryuko sigh and step down the stairs. The sight of her legs made the humiliation go down a bit easier. I wondered if I'd ever have them around me.

Satsuki blocked the view with her far less appealing limbs.

"Be careful you don't catch fleas."

I felt her walk by me, and she was gone. Ryuko turned at the base of the stairs and waited for me to come down.

"You know, you actually do have a pretty good bark." She grinned as we headed out the gates.

'If you think that's good, you should see my bite.' I muttered, rubbing my neck.

"Maybe I will." She winked and sent my heart in to my dick. "She scare you?"

'She could send me to poverty, take my uniform away from me, and legally kill me.'

"And?"

'If you're the one asking - it's no.'

She laughed. We came up to another gate. The district Honnōji was in was the only time the classes got to mix. Two-Star was west, One-Star was north, Three-Star was east. I was lucky enough to have never known where the no-star district was. I thought they might've just taken you there in the back of a garbage truck.

I realized something when we got up to the two-star gates.

'…uh. Shouldn't you have a home of your own?'

I swiped my ID and we went inside to a better life.

"My uniform isn't made by REVOCS. Doesn't have a star." She started next to me down the sidewalk. Two-Star life was the middle-class style of too-friendly neighbors that would bitch in private about your lawn, hairstyle, clothes, and everything else about you. My parents had sent me off to Honnōji because they thought it was a military academy, and they ended up not being half-wrong.

'Something custom-made?'

"Something like that, yeah. What do you think about Satsuki?"

'What do I think about her?'

"Yeah."

I caught a camera on a nearby lamppost.

'Just wonderful.' I said, waving for the surveillance. We turned a corner and Ryuko laughed as we got near the main houses.

"Guess I'll have to wait to find out, huh?"

'Yeah.' I smiled.

My house was at the dead-end, lawn trimmed just an inch below the legal limit. Ryuko and I went inside to the living room, kitchen left, hall across.

"Jeez." She laughed. "Much cleaner than I thought it'd be, you know. I thought I was gonna be sleeping with roaches."

'You - um, sleeping?' I said, shutting the door behind.

She went over to the couch and sat down grinning.

"Yeah. C'mon. Don't act like you're surprised."

'I - um, am.' I murmured, stepping over to her. 'You - you can stay if you want, but -'

" - knew it." She winked, and I was undone.

'…god.' I sighed. '… Is it a yes, or a no?'

"At least wait until after dinner."

My dick might've gotten stuck like that if she kept it up.

'Well - what do you want? I - keep plenty of eggs and meat. And rice.'

"Surprise me." she chimed.

'…fine.'

I gestured her to the kitchen so I'd have company while I cooked. I started the hardboiled eggs and rice while we spoke.

'Are you serious about the Satsuki stuff? Your father's killer?'

I didn't hear her respond behind, and I got worried I'd offended her so close to the line.

'…um. If that's alright to ask about.'

"…no, yeah." she murmured. "It is. It's fine." She sighed. "Satsuki killed my father."

I plunged a dozen eggs inside before the water boiled.

"…a few months ago. I saw her - when - I saw my dad die. He… told me that I needed to avenge him, and - I want to, too. I need to."

'Of course. Yeah.'

I put a lid on the pot, lowered the heat, and leaned against the counter next to her. She didn't move away, thankfully.

"I know she did it, too." Her eyes went to the floor. "And this -" - she tapped her scissor blade - " - she knows it was stolen, and knows there's a second half."

'She knows there's a second half?'

"Yeah. When I went through my dad's stuff, I only found one half, and Senketsu. My uniform." She tapped her clothes.

'You named it?' I smiled.

"Sort of." She smiled. "He talks. Only to me, though."

'I'm - sorry, he - what?'

I tried to find evidence of a joke on her face. She was either a good liar or telling the truth.

"He says you seem like a nice guy." She grinned.

I couldn't argue with an assessment like that.

'I... If you say - so.' I mumbled.

"It was made for me, so. Guess that's why he can talk." She winked. "He could shittalk you, and you'd never even know."

'I thought he thinks I'm a nice guy.'

"So far."

We laughed and I went back to the pot. I started the rice as I put the eggs out to cool.

'Does… he have a rank?'

"Kamui."

'What?'

"God-Robe." she chimed. "You see Satsuki's new uniform recently?"

'Mostly the bottom of it.'

She laughed. "It's something above Three-Star. She calls her's 'Junketsu'. Takes blood - or at least, Senketsu does - to transform."

'…how much of me losing was my fault, then?'

"Mmm… Maybe half." She winked. I finished up the rice, and she knew I would make her plate for her. "Still. Any more questions?"

'I'm guessing you're going to kill Satsuki, then?'

"Yep. And if you're housing me..."

I paused and thought for a second. I couldn't care less about murdering Satsuki. It might even humble her.

'…right.' I muttered. 'What about the rest? The Elite Four?'

"We'll see. I'll probably just take their uniforms. Senketsu gets stronger the more Life Fibers he absorbs - like a vampire."

'Sounds about right.'

"And now, I've told you." She smiled as I handed her her plate. We went to the couch and I sat down next to her. "What'd she talk to you about, anyway?"

'She told me 'be careful of catching fleas'.'

"Real cryptic."

We laughed.

'Doesn't want me around you, clearly. They just screw with me like that - Inumata, specifically.'

"Why's that?"

'Is 'jealousy' too easy an answer?'

"Guess not." She grinned. "… this is alright, though. Better than the street food."

'I mean, I never said I was a cook. Just look at me.'

"Yeah. Lot to take in."

She moved in closer.

"It's a yes."

'To?'

"To moving in."

I couldn't help but laugh. 'That's - -you're- the one deciding that?

"Ooo. Maybe I should just leave, then?"

I got the feeling she knew the effect she had on me, and no matter how we ended up, she'd permanently have it over me.

'I don't have a guest bed, you know.' I muttered. 'There's a couch - and my bed.'

"What an invitation." She laughed and finished up her meal. "I gotta head out, though. Got my stuff in my locker at Honnōji - if Satsuki didn't burn it."

'Do you want me to come with you?'

"No." She grinned and held her hand over my head. "Stay. Stay."

'…stay.' I sighed, leaning back.

"See you in a bit." She said, and she was gone.

I almost considered masturbating, but I might've needed it later.

* * *

She didn't come back until it was night, with a cardboard box covered in flies.

"Apparently, she - ugh." She groaned. "Bitch threw it in a dumpster. Had to go to the no-star district."

'Sounds like something she'd do.'

"I know, right?" Ryuko shook her head. "Hey, uh - where's your washer?"

'Down the hall - third right.'

"Thanks." she chimed, making her way past. I kept my head down the hall. I was still imagining those legs around me, even more now that I knew they eventually would be. Like most teenage males, my thought process ended at getting laid.

But it hit once she closed the door. How many mornings I could wake up with her on the couch, maybe next to me in bed. I don't know how long she was planning to stay, but I found myself hoping her quest would take a long time. Not that I wanted her not to succeed; but I wanted her around.

I really hadn't felt that way before, so it got mixed in with the arousal and hormones. I noticed she'd taken her shoes off at the front and put them next to mine.

"Hey." said her voice from the hall. "I found something clean!"

'You did?'

I hadn't.

"Yep!"

The door opened, and she stepped in wearing an utterly, totally, absolutely, purely, completely innocent pair of orange pajamas. They had bunny's heads on them, and they drove me fucking crazy. I knew I'd be dreaming about them that night if we didn't resolve our issue.

"Jeez. Got a weird look on your face." She grinned and sat down next to me. I realized the washer was running. "I just put Senketsu on the washer. He likes the way it vibrates."

'I - sure. Yeah.' I muttered. She had undone the top button. There wasn't anywhere I could look that would've saved me.

"Do you like it?" She laughed.

'I - it's - nice. Do you wear that a lot?'

"Just every night, yeah." She scooted in closer. We were touching by then. "What about you?"

'Usually just - underwear.'

"Whites?"

'What?'

"What's underneath there?"

She grinned, tapping there; and her eyes went wide.

"I - j-jeez." she murmured, starting to blush. "I - didn't realize that was your -"

' - you were trying to tap just my crotch, not my dick?'

"S-Something like that." She laughed. "…so, uh. Guess you like me a lot, huh?"

'Yeah.' We came closer. 'I do.'

"Mmm… Bit fast, isn't it?" She wrapped her arms around me. My heart was trying to escape when I wrapped mine around her's.

'My - heartbeat?'

She laughed. "No, doofus. Us doing this."

'What - are we doing too fast?'

"Mmm… Something like this."

She leaned to my neck and started kissing it. I want to say I was smooth my first time, but I was just trying to keep embarrassment from taking away my enjoyment. I started pressing her down in to the couch as we started kissing directly.

I felt her lips open once, and every one after that was with her tongue. I got the feeling she was inexperienced, too, but a lot better at the dirtier side of it. I don't remember how we got undressed, but I was eventually on top of her. I tried and made the entrance, and I got to feel her legs curl me in.

"G-God, j-jeez." she panted. My head was in her neck, but I felt sweat raining down on me. "You're - you're really f-fucking big, j-jeez."

'Is that a…'

My mind emptied as I got close.

'A… problem?'

"Mmm, no, it really, really isn't." She grinned, and as she pulled me in again, I went completely off. My mind was swimming with hormones and locked up arousal at that point, and I barely felt her thighs clench & squeeze as she had her own.

Eventually, I got off of her and tried to fit next to her, as narrow as the couch was. She laughed and sat up.

"I'll get up - and lay on your chest. Sound good?"

'Sounds good.' I smiled in a much better mood. She got up and laid on top of me. It took some adjusting.

"…mmm." She smiled. "That was pretty nice."

'I'm glad you liked it.'

We laid there for a while just to listen to eachother's heartbeats.

"…next time, though… let's do it on your bed."

'It'd be our bed now, you know.'

"Mmm… That makes you my boyfriend, too."

I honestly liked that even better than the sex.

'And you - my girlfriend.'

"Yeah. Guess so." She moved her right leg to the side -

\- and groaned as it got covered in slime.

"…should shower, anyway."

'Do you wanna take one together?'

I had said it without thinking, but I knew what it meant. I was starting to get attached to her.

_**[Apologies if some of the lines are messed up; there's a lot of ampersands that got swallowed up. Then again, this is an ultraviolent KLK Waifu Wish Fulfillment fanfic, so it's not like this is a masterpiece to begin with. Outcast is an entertaining protagonist and there's some great fights next chapter, though.]**_


	2. Octo-Man

We woke up together the next morning. After we had sex, she'd worn the pure pajamas for the rest of the night and told me about her plan. Senketsu's Life Fiber absorption meant she'd need as many uniforms as she could get before challenging Satsuki again, and fortunately, duels were still in style at Honnōji. There were plenty of ripe club presidents.

'Morning.' I leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"…mmm. Hey." She smiled and opened her eyes. I thought about making a go at it, but Senketsu was hanging by a nail on the wall and facing away. If it actually was sentient, I wasn't about to have sex in the same room as it.

'Got the whole Saturday to ourselves, if you want.' I offered. I was really wanting to get on her good side, hoping for a repeat of last night.

But she caught it too. "Settle down." She grinned. "Maybe later."

She kissed me and slipped her tongue in to it. I was living the dream then.

'I - sure, um. I could make breakfast for you. If you want.'

She stretched out. "More eggs?"

'Is that what you want?'

"Not in a row." She laughed. "Guess it's been working out good for you, though."

She gave a squeeze of my right biceps. My lower half was having trouble again. At that age, I could've came to a water stain on the ceiling that looked like a breast. It was honestly surprising me that she had even had sex the first day we met, as I thought that sort of hormonal probably-too-quick attitude was only something us men had. That's probably why we didn't live as long.

"What else do you have?"

'Already asking for all my food.' I smiled and shook my head, and she laughed.

"You're right. How about…" She sat up. "I've still got some money. Wanna get some street food?"

'Takoyaki sounds good.'

"Could've guessed." She winked. "Takes a lot of calories to keep that body, huh?"

'You're going to need a lot, too, you know.' We laughed. 'All the fights we're gonna be getting in to. People are gonna ask why I'm fighting other club presidents.'

She got a curious look. "Why are you, anyway?"

'Because I…'

My mind was slower than her smile.

'… Satsuki treats me like shit.' I mumbled. 'Elite Four treats me like shit.'

"Enough to want to murder them?" She smiled like she was prodding me.

'You really enjoy fucking with me, don't you?' I laughed, and she leaned in to my ear, whispering so Senketsu wouldn't hear.

"And fucking you." She leaned back. "Yeah. Still, though. I just want to make sure you… know what's gonna happen. If I kill Satsuki - when I kill Satsuki. REVOCS police are gonna be after me, and they're gonna be after you."

'…I'll need a Three-Star.' I muttered, and she nodded.

"I can threaten Sewing Club in to making one for you - but they won't until Satsuki's gone. I was thinking about that last night, too."

'Yeah.' I nodded. 'But, she did kill your father - I already don't like her - and she's never going to get justice any other way. Someone like that'll just be protected by being rich for their whole life.'

She smiled. I thought for a second she was going to ask if I'd do this for anyone else, but that time, she decided to pass it up.

"Good."

She got out of bed and started to undress.

'We're - wait, weren't we…'

Her pajamas made her ass bounce when she pulled them down. I was completely ruined by the sight of her nude, and she turned and started walking over to Senketsu.

"What's up?" she said and turned back, then laughed as she saw my face. "Doofus."

'You can't blame me. I'm an eighteen year old guy.'

"Still can. You wanna get dressed first?"

I caught her angle and nodded. I got out of bed and undressed, put my own uniform back on. The two extra arms hung limp whenever it wasn't active, but I figured we were both wearing ridiculous attire anyway. She put Senketsu back on. "Let's head out."

We went outside and started walking down the street to the two-star gate, as it usually had plenty of vendors. On our way there, I saw a few other club presidents, and they seemed surprised to see me and Ryuko together. I thought they were envious.

"There." She waved to a cart up ahead as we stepped up. The guy at the counter had blue hair and clear skin. I imagined he was intentionally feminine, unlike Inumata, who was unlucky enough to have a genetic basis for his.

"Sheesh." he said as he saw me. "Should I just let you buy the entire cart?"

'I wouldn't mind that.'

"Ten pieces for me." said Ryuko. "And…" She glanced to me. I could tell she was wanting to eat something else, too. "… Thirty?"

'Forty total sounds good.'

"Sheesh." murmured the man. "Keep me company while I make it, then."

We nodded. Street vendors near Honnōji were all REVOCS employees, so they were probably paid to talk to students or begging to get away from their coworkers. There were rumors the Three-Star district had prostitutes, but I always joked that was just Nonon.

"Unique uniform you have." he said, eyes on Ryuko's unique uniform she had. "Does it work well?"

"Pretty well." she said. "Best one at Honnōji."

I'd expected the man to laugh. I guess he wasn't paid for that.

"It certainly could be." he muttered. "It certainly could be." He glanced at me. "Fight Club's president, yes? Outcast?"

'Voted 'most violent student' three years running.'

"You even beat out Mooka for that - while she was president."

'I'll make sure there's a fourth.' I said, tapping Ryuko's back. It'd be hard to beat a murder, but I'd do my best to excel.

"Sounds about right." grinned Ryuko. "Big brute boyfriend."

The man started for the boat containers, but given he had a full tray, he looked like he was considering letting us run off with it.

"…your boyfriend?" said the man, crouching and going below to get a paper bag. He got up and looked at Senketsu for a second.

"Yep." chimed Ryuko. "My boyfriend."

(I realized later he was probably staring at her breasts. I resolved to punch him later, so I could keep up the 'most violent student' legacy.)

"I hope you're happy, then." He said as he dropped all forty pieces in to one bag. It looked like it might've torn open.

Ryuko nodded and smiled. She got closer to me as I took the bag and walked back down the street. We turned the corner when we realized.

"…huh. He didn't ask us to pay." she muttered.

'Probably forgot about it.'

She grinned. We went down the sidewalk like he might come after us, and as we turned another corner -

\- the bag's bottom burst, battered balls dropping out; my uniform activated, four arms catching a dozen -

\- and twenty thin red strands tethered twenty others, yanking them back to Ryuko. I looked, and she had her hands on Senketsu's chest with the strands between her fingers.

'That's - good?' I panted. I was still grief-stricken for the eight that hadn't made it. If Ryuko wasn't there, I might've looked around before scooping them off the ground.

She laughed. "I got most of them. Still, let's - get home." She winced. I got the feeling the takoyaki's heat was rough even for her.

We ran back down the street, careful not to lose our cargo again. We got to our house and went inside, and I rushed to get a plate. She dumped them out as I set it down, and she went to the bathroom to wash her hands with cold water. She'd had the heat of my lower-right arm before, but I guess she wasn't as resilient when her Kamui wasn't transformed.

I had already gone through a dozen when she came back. My tongue was scorching too.

"Jeez." She grinned and sat down next to me. There was no assignment to the food anymore, so we just spoke while taking random ones.

'The strands are food-safe, right?'

"Never tried it before." She winked and took a bite - " - shit! - that's hot."

She activated her uniform for the rest. "Much better."

'Guess I'm used to the heat. Burns like an inferno at the center.'

"Yeah." She laughed. "Still, uh."

She gave me a telling wink. My stomach was filled, and so would she be soon.

"Need to talk before, though."

'Sure.'

I could talk about astrophysics if she winked again.

"About the club presidents, doofus." She laughed when I smiled like a real dope. "Right? The Two-Stars?"

I nodded and tried to keep my dick from entering the discussion. It wasn't his turn to speak.

'Right. You want me to beat the shit out of them.'

"Half of them, but yeah. I'm getting a list of clubs on Monday - it'll be easier than looking through the flyers."

I nodded, but something struck me then. I was always slow.

'You're - we're taking their uniforms, right?'

She nodded and fell to my trap. "Yeah. Whoever you fight, just take their uniform and give it to me. Senketsu can still absorb those."

'Why didn't you absorb my uniform?'

I saw the same look I had earlier. This time, my smile was quicker than her mind.

"Because I… u-um." She smiled sheepishly.

'No wonder you screw with me like this.' I grinned, and she started blushing.

"Because I… well, you know."

'Think I look good?'

"Definitely. Don't act like you're all high and mighty."

'No, no. I would never.'

I felt her hand reach for me under the table. We held hands. I don't think I'd have ever enjoyed affection that soft before, but it did feel good. We had cuddled the night before, and while there was something sexy about her only having a thong on for it, I liked having that warmth. I was really becoming a whole human being, with thoughts and emotions.

We finished our meal and she got up.

"Need to get changed, though. Do you have an iron? A clothing iron, something like that?"

'I don't think I do, no. Why?'

"Senketsu likes getting ironed." She untransformed. "… maybe a drycleaning, though. Maybe I'll take him to get drycleaned soon."

'Won't somebody steal him?'

"Nah. Someone tried it, but he just immobilized them."

'He - immobilized them?'

"Yeah." She grinned. "If you want - you can wear him, and I'll tell him to do it."

I shook my head and laughed. I wasn't about to ruin her picture of me by crossdressing. 'I'll take your word on it.'

"Sounds good." She set down the hall.

'You know where to find me.' I said, and went to our bedroom.

* * *

The next Monday, we met up after class. She had gotten the list of clubs.

"Alright." She sat down against the wall. It felt a bit ridiculous to sit out in a hall, but so did I. "Clubs this semester…"

We went down the list and started checking names off. We didn't have a plan besides random assignment, so we just swapped.

"Boxing Club."

'Tennis Club.'

"Electronics Club is… right. Inumata." She shook her head. "Not yet."

'Music is Nonon.'

"Fight Club." She poked my chest.

'I can handle that one.'

"Sure." She grinned. "Journalism, Photography… these don't have Two-Stars. Might be useful if we really need it, though."

'Finance. Cultural Heritage - Sanageyama.'

"Honors is Gamagoori." She shook her head. We only had a dozen left. "Sewing, maybe. Motorcycle. Baseball."

'They're the worst. Cooking.'

"Gonna outeat them?" she grinned.

'If anyone can do it, it'd be me.'

"Good luck. Audio and Visual."

'American Football - oh. They don't even have a One-Star.'

"Football regular does."

'Otaku.'

"Be my guest." She winced. "Track."

'Shotput.'

We were almost at the end.

"Art."

'Life Skills.'

"Aaand, Business. This look good to you?"

'All good by me - Tennis, Finance, Cooking, the otakus, Shotput, Life Skills.'

"Good. I've got - Boxing, Motorcycle, Baseball, A&V, Football, Art, Business."

'There'll be a bunch of shitty clubs popping up, too. Always happens near the start of a semester - just trying to get one and two stars any way they can.'

"I'll take your word for it."

I'd almost forgotten she had only been here a week. It'd be another opportunity to endear me to her.

'…so we might want to…' I nodded. 'Might want to keep an eye out for a while. Make sure we've gotten all we can get out.'

"Yeah." She smiled. "Still - be careful. If you lose your Two-Star…"

'Yeah. But I'm Fight Club's president, you know. It'd look pretty bad if I had any trouble anyway.'

"Yeah." She grinned. "I don't want to have to come down on someone and get your uniform back."

We laughed. 'You won't.'

"Good. Still, we need to schedule our duels. Might take a while - but we'll get through it."

'Yeah. Looks like Tennis has a meeting next Monday.'

"So's Boxing. We'll just go down the list, then."

She grinned as we stood. I could tell she was just as eager to enact a beating as me.

'Do you wanna go train, then? I won't have my room until Friday, but…'

She got a pinched face for a second, and she looked away. I was still worried about offending her, so anxiety bit me for a second.

"…yeah." She nodded when her eyes came to me. "I've got somewhere I want to take you. To show you."

I got the feeling this was something serious, so I shut off my smartass mind. 'Lead the way.'

She nodded and led me down the hall. We went out of Honnōji. She wasn't speaking much, but she kept looking down at Senketsu every once in a while.

"Going to need my motorcycle for this."

'You have a motorcycle?'

"There's one I rent in the no-star district. I haven't needed it in the past few days, though."

'Oh. Um, yeah.'

She smiled, but it wasn't happy. "Sorry. I'm not - mad at you, or anything like that. You'll know why once we get there."

We went through streets I had never been in before. As expected, the no-star district was closest to the one-star's, and the gate was the most guarded. People gave us perplexed gazes when we went through the gates, and the scenery changed immediately. Their homes looked abandoned and boarded up, and there was trash all on the sidewalk. There were signs saying _**'NO CLEANING'**_, so I assumed Satsuki didn't let them pick it up.

"Yeah." She winced. "Still. There's a rental place on the other side that's pretty cheap. I'll see if I can buy my motorcycle off of them - they keep it reserved for me, anyway. It's a small chain."

'Is this where you used to live?'

She shook her head. I realized I didn't know that much about her past. My dick really was driving me those first few days, as bad as it felt to admit.

"No. That's where we're going, now. It's a few hours away from here."

She dug in Senketsu's pockets. Her father had the genius to give it pockets.

"…think I've got - eighty thousand left, or so."

'I can pay the rest.'

She smiled. I think having someone around was starting to make her feel better, and it was definitely starting to let me be kinder, to use a cliché. I'd been a loner at Honnōji for so long that I started disliking people on principle. I don't think that'd really change, but I knew I liked Ryuko.

"Thanks. Still, it's… It's where my - dad died. We won't get interrupted there."

I nodded. A bunch of questions were threatening to come out, but I was still unsure when it'd be alright to ask.

'What was he - like? Your dad.'

"Pretty weird, but… I - didn't really see him a lot when I was younger. I was at boarding school until I was… sixteen."

We came up to what I assumed was the motorcycle rental shop, a squat brick building of mismatched boards. There was something over the door that looked like it might have been a neon sign ten years ago, and a barbed wire fence separated the merchandise from us. I held the door open for Ryuko, and she laughed at my chivalry.

The musk hit me in the nose when we went inside, and I hoped it'd be a short journey when we went up to the counter. The man had wrinkles and had eyes like he knew Ryuko.

"Matoi." he said, already pulling out his clipboard from underneath. "Need it again, then?"

"Yeah. I want to buy it, actually."

He paused for a few seconds. I thought about making an offer.

"…well. Guess you use it enough that I should've expected it." He shook his head. "Normal rental price is 15,000 a day, so… let me think for a second."

Ryuko nodded as we waited. Eventually he gestured to me.

"Who's this, anyway? You've never brought anyone in before."

"My boyfriend."

"I could've guessed that. What's his name?"

'Outcast.'

He glanced at Ryuko like he was confirming it. He shrugged.

"Hundred thousand."

Ryuko gave me her best smile as she paid, and I added enough to cover it. I almost thought about offering to pay it all away. I really was a sucker for her.

"Here." He dug out the keys from under the counter and handed them to her. "All your's. Head out the side - you know which one it is. I'll have the fence opened for you."

"Thanks." chimed Ryuko. We went out the side door and to the parking lot, only a few motorcycles parked and locked up to poles. She set over to one with orange&red stripes on it, and I wondered if she chose it because it matched Senketsu.

"C'mon." She grinned and got on the front, unlocking it with her free hand and starting the ignition. I looked like an steroidal toddler on the back.

"Could get you a sidecar, if you want." We laughed. The fence peeled open. "Wanna hang on?"

'Fine, fine.' I laughed and set my hands around her waist, and we set off. Fortunately, it didn't take long to get out of the no-star district and on to the highway. We tried to speak occasionally, but the wind kept swallowing our words, and even once we did get off the highway, we didn't want to speak at red lights.

"Comfy?" she grinned about two hours later. She pulled out of the suburb we had gotten ourselves in to and on to a backroad. The trees were thick enough I was worried someone might hit us, but we did have our uniforms.

'Gonna be a bit of a ride back.'

"Yeah. Hope you've got gas money." She winked as we turned left. I saw the road end up ahead, but there weren't any houses nearby, and the trees were shrouding everything else around us. She parked at the end and against one of the trees.

"C'mon." She chimed and got off, waiting for me between two branches.

'Are we ever gonna get there?' I laughed and she smiled.

"Still got about a half-hour of walking."

We started walking through.

'Dad must've been pretty secretive, then.'

"Yeah. He always, um… Whenever I'd come home for summer, he always made sure that I knew how to fight. That I was athletic."

'Did you go to one of the… other schools? Like Tokyo's or Osaka's?'

She shook her head. "Nah. I went to just a regular boarding school - out in Kobe. Not a, nah. Not a Life Fiber school."

I nodded. Most of the other fashion companies had gone out of business by the time Honnōji was built, but a few stragglers had hung on through Chinese labor and progressive marketing. One of them even had a gay CEO. I wondered how Satsuki being murdered would affect stock prices.

'Guess that, um. Ended up helping, at least. Right?'

She nodded. "Yeah. I guess he was just, I mean, a bit of a survivalist type, so. Just wanted me to be able to defend myself."

'Is that why he made Senketsu for you?'

"I think so, yeah." She smiled and poked him in the eyepatch. "Guess it was going to be an eighteenth birthday present."

'Should I be getting you one?'

"It was two months ago." She winked. "But I wouldn't mind a late cake."

'Maybe on our way back.' I smiled.

We eventually came out to a clearing, and I knew immediately this was it. The remnants of a burnt home had started to rot in the middle. Ryuko nodded as we separated to opposite ends. Her eyes were going between me and her motivation.

"Let's start."

* * *

The next Monday, I met with Tennis Club's president on the indoor tennis court. Omiko was one of the most popular women at Honnōji. I liked to think Satsuki was jealous of the attention she got, but I figured the ten-figure salary was better than knowing every man at Honnōji had thought of you in the shower. At one point, someone from Photography Club had tried to sneak an upskirt of her, and I never saw him again.

Unsurprisingly, she had brought her entire female-only club with her. I was standing in death ground, and both my masculinity and size of my penis would be questioned mercilessly if I were to lose.

"Whatever." She threw her ponytails back and stood against the other side of the net. "Don't think you're getting something out of this."

I shrugged, daring not let my eyes catch how her thighs looked in her uniform. I was a committed man by then, after all.

"Aww, look!" shouted a woman from the bleachers. "He's so disappointed!"

"Schyeah." laughed Omiko. "Not gonna fuck you if you win."

She was a ruthless woman, and I would fight her like a man.

'When I win - I want your uniform.'

Omiko looked like she was going to walk out. "You - what?"

'You heard me.' I grunted. I was trying to get the anger ready. 'I want your uniform - when I win.'

"What, so you can jerk off on it?"

"Maybe he'll jerk off with it -on-." chimed one of the women. "Got a fetish for that?"

They laughed. I figured Omiko would fight harder. For a second, I wondered how Ryuko would look with it on, but I knew I'd never get that chance.

"Then I get your's."

"Make him undress for it, too!" shouted one of the girls.

"Like anyone wants to see that." groaned another. "I heard like - steroids stunt your growth. Down there."

I frowned. I was not on steroids, and I had only seen a capsule of Dianabol once. The closest I had come to purchasing some was when I had tried to find original formula Agent Orange, a supplement that had a disclaimer that your skin might tingle after consumption and was full of every heart attack-inducing substance the manufacturers could find.

After some more myths about anabolics floated around the crowd, Omiko waved them down. Even she was starting to get bored.

"Whatever." she said, pulling her tennis racket out like a weapon. "You ready?"

My arms went taut. Like most uniforms, I had some range on my abilities, only about twenty feet.

'Ready.' I said, and in the next instant -

" - start!" she shouted, rushing to the back of the room a hundred feet away; with no time to waste, I started my pursuit forward and came up to the net -

\- and a swift sweep of my fire-arm set it blue & alight; ahead, a dozen red tennis balls shot towards me, and as they hit the net -

\- my fire froze in-place, clear line of blue flames separating me from my target on the other end. Before I could react, a yellow ball hit my chest -

\- and the explosion blasted me with the strength of a thousand away, and as I flew -

\- a swift countergust threw me back to the ground, grunting as I stood again, two hundred feet still separating us. Ice-arm readied, I rushed back up to the still-burning net and shoved it inside -

\- and sighed as I felt a volley of red tennis balls hit it a second later, projectiles sticking to my fingers and ice suddenly not coming to my mental command -

" - fucking retard!" laughed Omiko at the other end - " - could've just rushed around it and not gotten stuck!"

\- but I had a second extinguisher ready. Wind arm sweeping across the burning-flames, pulling oxygen from the air and in to my uniform -

\- and snuffing the flames out in an instant, freeing my ice arm as I vaulted over the net, red tennis balls still stuck to my ice arm and element unable to come -

\- but a gust of wind blasted them off; my headless head nodded as renewed chill flowed in to me again, a hundred feet still separating us as I kept my charge going, and in the next instant -

\- another volley of red balls flew at me -

\- but a swift sweep of oxygen brushed them aside -

\- and halted them suddenly in mid-air, stuck to the midair gas as I veered left and around, Omiko still at the back wall with racket readied. I saw her fingers flick at her hilt, yellow balls appearing as she bat her racket forward -

\- and their explosions blasted me with the strength of a thousand back; wind arm readying as I flew -

\- another explosion blast me right and towards the bleachers -

" - scatter!" shouted one of the women -

\- and received only me for her troubles -

\- and my body bent her arm in ways it shouldn't as I hit her chest. Grunting and standing again, a new yellow volley burst open at my left -

\- and threw me clear through the bleachers, shattered wood slicing my uniform as I was blasted against the wall, constant volley juggling and pinning me -

" - sorry!" laughed Omiko over the cacophony; I felt the women scatter to the other bleacher, another dozen shockwaves blasting me against the wall, uniform starting to crack -

\- and as another volley shot towards me, the next scene was instant.

' - Worldwide.' I grunted, fire&ice arms aiming for the projectiles -

\- and a dozen jets of water blast each away, keeping me safe as I ran again, rushing back through the shattered seats. Omiko was at my left and a hundred feet away, launching a new yellow swarm towards me -

\- but a single geyser of water blasted it away as I kept my rush going, water coating my arms to keep the red balls stuck if she used them again -

\- but a bizarre scene met my stare as she started to rush at me -

\- and the two of us halted suddenly, fifty feet separating us, bleachers flanking me. I didn't know if she had some new trick close-range, so we kept our glare going for a while.

"Come on." she grunted, her racket readied, my arms taut. "You want my - fucking uniform so bad?"

Behind, I heard her club members scattering, and in the next instant -

\- an explosion burst at the ceiling; my vision turned up -

\- to see the rubble falling with the speed of sound upon me; arms readied, my aim swept up, and in the next instant -

\- the rubble was pulled far swifter in to me; sudden counter too quick, the concrete rain shoved me down -

\- and I heard new explosions above, new rubble falling with the speed of light and seeking to entomb me -

\- but the next scene was instant.

A sweep of fire burnt a hole in the floor; and in to the burrow I fell below, rubble catching only floor above as I started rushing forward&underground, blue flames disintegrating my path as I kept my tunneling going. Another volley entered the tunnel behind -

\- but a swift wall of ice appeared behind; and in to the sudden barrier smashed the projectiles, keeping me safe as I ran ahead, ice pillars keeping the tunnel supported, fire clearing my path. (I hadn't been able to do it in a while, as Fight Club had always been on the second floor.)

I couldn't stay for long, though. I kept my rush and zigzagging, burning random holes around the arena, hearing but not seeing more tennis balls erupting above, Omiko flustered at her projectiles' failures. A sweep of my arm burnt a hole above -

\- and a geyser of water blasted me out of the aperture; to at last land fifty feet left of Omiko. I turned, and saw her racket sweep back -

\- an unseen force yanked me up in to the ceiling, and as I started to fall -

\- it pulled me suddenly again, headless neck bending as it smashed me against the ceiling, constant juggling as she taunted me below -

" - should've kept running, small-dick bitch!" laughed Omiko -

' - did you fucking plant these before?!' I grunted, turning my vision to the ceiling -

\- where a dozen green tennis balls were embedded, opening and sucking me in constantly -

" - so what if I did?" she laughed - " - Fight Club's president can handle that shit! Can't you?!"

\- and she was right. Another green ball pulled me to the ceiling again; and the next scene was instant.

A gust of wind carved open the ceiling; and out of the aperture hung the room's wires - my electrical arm tapped one, and the electrical current claimed the ceiling -

\- and charred every embedded ball to ash, freeing me as I fell to the ground again -

\- and every light went off a second later, leaving us both in the dark; and I dared not move then, knowing she'd hear me if I did. A second later -

\- I felt a tennis ball whiz by me and bounce off the wall behind -

\- and fly fortunately away from me. I heard Omiko's rapid serving, balls bouncing and trying to track me all around the room, court still black. I couldn't risk burning her projectiles, but I had something different up my four sleeves.

A geyser of water burst out of my arms -

\- and I spun as carefully as I could around, spraying water everywhere I couldn't see, and in the next instant -

\- an explosion burst at my left; the shockwave threw me with the strength of a thousand away, water still active as I flew -

\- and smashed right against another wall. I knew she could find me then, but in the next instant -

\- I swept my electrical arm to the watery streak -

\- and heard the entire room scream, electrical current starting to light the dark -

" - H-H-H-H-HEY!" shouted one voice at the other end, not Omiko's -

\- and the backup lights came on, filling the room with light again. I was at the back end of the room, bleachers right, Omiko fifty feet ahead. A streak of water was between us, her club members twitching in their seats from my electricity.

Final counter readied, I swept my arm back down, new electricity tuned for Omiko -

\- but a green tennis ball hit the streak -

\- and vacuumed away the connection between us, keeping her safe, electricity only catching another dozen women yelling at me. With a sigh, I rose to my feet charging, sheets of ice forming underneath as I skid&slid, and as I came thirty within range -

\- a gust of wind tore the floor ahead of her; footing suddenly lost and ground buckling inward, she started to slip, stumbling down the sudden ramp -

\- and a geyser of water turned it to a sudden pool, liquid up to her shoulders as I came up, and as my electrify surged again -

\- the next scene was instant.

She leaped out of the water&away, serving a dozen red balls to the tip of the pool -

\- and keeping it in place as she landed on top of them, balancing on her own volley, thirty feet separating us still. I was at one end of the pool, she on the other. We started to stare again. I didn't dare dip my arm in.

"Y-Yeah, f-fucking dick!" shouted one of the women -

\- and a charred shoe hit my right shoulder.

"What the - fuck is wrong with - YOU!" shouted another, and as they threw their purse towards me -

\- they really hated it when a pillar of blue flame disintegrated it; though even Omiko laughed.

"What a fucking dick." she cackled, and in the next instant -

\- she threw a green ball in to the water -

\- and it yanked me with the strength of a million in to the pool, more tennis balls vacuuming me to the bottom; I grunted and thrashed, oafish strength alone unable to break free as the water shoved me down, Omiko laughing above -

\- but the next scene was instant. My uniform burst in to blue flames -

\- and disintegrated the entire pool; and out of the cloud of steam I rose again - ahead, Omiko shrieked and fell to her back, sudden footing lost again -

\- but another yellow volley flew at me -

\- and a swift volley of icicles pierced through each, Omiko fleeing as I started my rush forward & up the ramp. I kept my chase going up to floor-level again, seeing her only thirty feet away when she turned -

\- and the next scene was instant.

A volley of yellow projectiles flew towards me -

\- and a second and third, intentionally slowing speed as they exploded out of my range -

\- and I grunted, thrashed, but still stood by the end, hundreds of shockwaves forming a veritable wall ahead. I didn't dare enter it directly, blasts just enough to keep me slow, out of my range and unable to counter them before they burst open.

"Y-Yeah!" grunted Omiko's voice over the cacophony. "Come on, come on - I can fucking - I can fucking do this all day!"

'So can I -' I grunted, and in the next instant -

\- a geyser of water burst up in the midst of the storm; sudden counter too quick for her, the explosives still went off -

\- and the shockwaves scattered water everywhere they could go, new geysers of water forming and bursting outward, explosive volley helping me, but still unable to break free.

Through the yellow wall, I saw Omiko standing behind, racket flurrying, pool of water at her feet. A few puddles were between us, but no direct connection for my electricity.

"I - oh!" shouted one of her club members, behind & right. "Lady Satsuki!"

Admittedly, I almost believed it for a second. A few others started booing. Another geyser of water burst up ahead, and there were few puddles, but no way to connect us. She'd been keeping her shockwaves just enough to slow me.

I realized a second later I didn't need to connect, and as another volley flew towards me -

\- the next scene was instant. My ice&wind arms swept forward -

\- and a chill wind erupted outward, eeking the edge of its range and hitting the pool underneath Omiko -

\- and she shrieked as the water froze her ankles to the ground, step locked in place as I ran forward, and as another explosion burst outward -

\- even I winced as I saw her icy prison shatter outward -

\- and a dozen shards flew clear through her eyes. Shrieking as she staggered, she dropped her racket as I kept my merciless rush forward, and as I came finally within range -

\- I slammed her with the strength of a thousand against the wall, electrical arm readying to snap her wrist back -

" - c-concede!" gagged the temporarily-blind woman - " - f-fuck - c-concede -"

\- I smashed her against the ground, one boot on her racket arm -

" - I said - concede - **CONCEDE! FUCK!**" she gagged, ice shards still in her face -

' - fucking uniform!' I shouted, and realized a second later she was actually in agony.

I picked up her tennis racket and got off of her. She started twitching the pain out.

"…f-fuck…" she groaned. I didn't really have any sympathy for her, but I knew her uniform would heal her once she calmed down.

'Whenever you're done.' I sighed and turned away. I saw her club members gagging at something behind me, and heard the ice shards hit the floor a second later.

"…d-done."

I heard her stand, and her tennis racket disappeared as I turned.

'Uniform.' I held my hands out as if to receive something.

"…god." Omiko winced. "Don't - fucking do any weird shit with it."

I thought about mentioning Senketsu's Life Fiber absorption; but I doubt she would've believed me. I didn't know if anyone else knew about it.

'It's just a trophy.'

"You and that one chick." She sighed and waved that she was going back in to the school. When she came back out, she was wearing a white shirt and sweatpants. No-Star uniforms really just looked like Russians.

"Here." She handed me her uniform.

'Thanks.'

I walked out, and heard her former club start their verbal shredding of her.

Ryuko and I met up at the end of the day.

"Still got your uniform?" she grinned, and I nodded as I handed her Omiko's uniform. She put it up to Senketsu, and it started to disappear like it was getting absorbed.

'You know your boyfriend can handle it.'

I emphasized the boyfriend part. I liked reminding myself. She smiled.

"Good. I got through Boxing pretty easy, too."

'Wish I could've been there.'

"You can be, next time. Already challenged Motorcycle's president - says she needed some setup for it."

It was probably sexist, but I was surprised Motorcycle's president was a woman. I decided not to bring that up.

"Still - two weeks from now. Can cheer your girlfriend on, right?" She grinned.

I really liked being reminded, too. 'You know I will. Do you want to get something to eat?'

"Sure."

We went outside, and I heard students start mumbling as we passed by. A few members of Tennis Club were gossiping about my fight, though I didn't hear much besides some slurs towards Omiko from women who formerly adored her. I thought about joining in, but I didn't think Ryuko would appreciate it.

"Got the bitch good, huh?" she grinned.

I was wrong.

'Got the bitch good.' I said, and she laughed.

We went to a spot closest to the two-star gates, a sushi restaurant that had been responsible for three students hospitalized for mercury poisoning last year. I think I heard the manager groan as we sat down at the counter.

"Jeez." she laughed, catching it too. "I like how I'm getting a picture of you - just from how everyone reacts to you."

'What do you mean?'

A man with a shaved head that was a mohawk four weeks ago gave us our menus, and we ordered water. More people started coming in, and I caught a television on behind the counter. Like always, it was playing REVOCS' commercials.

"Right before I fought Boxing Club's president - one of them asked me if I had a boyfriend." She grinned. "Got pretty scared when I said I was dating you."

'As he should be.' For a second, I thought about asking for the dead man's name.

"I told him I wouldn't tell you if he gave me his uniform, though." She winked, and our food came. She took one look at my plate and laughed.

'You know what you signed up for.' I grinned.

"Yeah. I do." She smiled. "Still, though - went pretty good, but… still not strong enough. Senketsu says we're only at 20% attunement."

'Attunement?' I said between swallows of tuna, and she nodded.

"Yeah - how much of Senketsu's power I can, uh… access. It goes up whenever I absorb a uniform."

'Is that something about Kamuis?'

She shook her head, finishing her first portion when I was a quarter through mine. "Nah. Think it's just something about Senketsu. You didn't tell Omiko about him, right?"

'I just told her I wanted a trophy.'

"Good."

I declined to mention the comments Omiko had made on my penis size, as Ryuko had seen ample evidence to the contrary. We ordered another two plates once I finished up, and the manager was looking at me like he was regretting half-price Mondays. For some reason, so was the server.

Before I could speak up, a third sat to our left - the fortunate-feminine man who had sold us takoyaki. I was almost worried he'd come to collect.

"There the bitch goes again." he muttered, gesturing to the television. "They have a new commercial, you know. Recently."

"Looks like it." said Ryuko.

Satsuki's mother Ragyo was on the screen. She looked like if you had tried to reconstruct someone's body after cremation, and her hair was a literal rainbow past her shoulders. The audio was off, but I could read the subtitles in the xylophone of her voice.

The server came to take the takoyaki man's order.

"My usual." he said, and didn't wait before the server left to launch another mumbling of 'stupid cunt' and 'fucking bitch' towards Ragyo. I thought it was weird he was being so open with us, as we could've easily reported him.

'You really don't like her.' I muttered and tapped Ryuko's shoulder. I could tell she was tense for the same reason.

"I'm not trying to entrap you." he said. "Her and that fucking cunt of a daughter she has."

"Satsuki?" muttered Ryuko.

Neither of us were convinced. We started to drive faster through our food.

"Some day - someone's going to kill that fucking bitch." he said; I tried not to stop eating.

'Why do you hate her?'

"The same reason factory owners in the 19th century had their heads bashed in. She pays me a shit wage, and gives me -"

\- his food came in a bag, and he sighed as he got up with his eyes on the time.

" - fucking fifteen minute break. Thank you."

He took his bag, and I let my eyes go back to my meal as I felt him walk away.

"…hey." muttered Ryuko, reaching by me for something; an index card. "He left something."

'Probably more insults.'

She laughed and flipped it over, but her eyes started to pinch. I leaned over to find out why.

On it, a photo of a woman with black hair and a spiked leather jacket. Her name, birthday, address, and uniform's information were printed.

**_[Speed Queen: Appears as her motorcycle. Life Fibers within speed up any object they inject, adding acceleration, faster rate of decay, or reduced half-life.]_**

'… That's -'

" - Motorcycle Club's president - yeah. And her uniform."

'Guess that helps, right?'

"If it's legit, yeah." she grinned. "Need to check if it's right, though."

We finished eating our meals, and I paid for it like a real dope. She checked the card again before we went outside, and we started searching for the address. A few club presidents crossed the street to get away from us.

We got on to one street of houses, mailboxes locked by keypads and lawns better trimmed than mine. Ryuko came up to our target, though the house looked the same as any other on the block.

"Could check the mail." She took her blade out, but I stepped up.

'They've got an alarm if you try to break in to them.'

She grinned as I got my electrical arm readied. "Jeez. What are you gonna do?"

I put one arm on the box and three on the pole, crouched down -

\- and tore it clear out of the ground; the box started blaring immediately, and Ryuko fled with me as it kept ringing -

" - isn't - can't you turn it off?" she winced, hand on her ear and the streets filled with the tone -

' - I, uh - nope!' I shouted over the calamity; we veered in to another street, our salvation up ahead&right -

\- and once we got home, I ran in to the bedroom and rolled it up in a blanket to dull the roar.

She took her hand off her ear and started laughing. "Jeez - I thought you were going to get rid of the alarm -"

' - they don't use electricity.' I laughed, and she threw another blanket over our mailbox burrito. 'They shut up after a few minutes, though.'

"Jeez." She laughed. "Like when you tried to make wings with your uniform."

'Still need to get a new smoke detector.' I muttered, having destroyed the last one. Her strands were food-safe, but my fire arm was not.

We waited a few minutes for the mailbox to calm down, and she sliced the treasure chest open. A dozen letters fell out, and she grabbed one up.

"Yep. Addressed to 'Makoto Nakimura'." She confirmed it with the card and nodded.

'Almost worth the noise.'

_**[I told you about the fights, bro.]**_


	3. Trophies For Her

Later that night, someone came by asking about a disturbance; but my lower-right arm had already disintegrated the evidence, and Ryuko's stomach the chocolates Makoto's mother had sent her. The police chalked it up to some other prankster, and I got the feeling they were as dedicated to their work as our mystery man was.

Over the next two weeks, Ryuko and I went to the forest every night and trained. We ended up knowing half the diners that laid along the highway back, and though she wasn't sure when she would challenge Satsuki, I got the feeling we would know all of them eventually. The night before her duel with Makoto, we stopped at the only diner in the prefecture that banned smoking. My attempt to cook wings had left us with enough for a year.

We went inside and took a booth, and a server came by for our first order of ramen & soda. Ryuko always had a taste for orange, and I again wondered if it was because it matched Senketsu. We talked for a few minutes, and Makoto eventually came up.

'Gonna be ready for tomorrow?' I grinned, knowing she would be.

She laughed. "Yeah. Still only at about 30% attunement - but if that card was right…"

'Yeah. Might help for - however she has it set up, yeah.'

"Think she's gonna ask about the mailbox?"

Our server came by with our ramen. Ryuko always slurped her's, which usually gave my lower half trouble; but this time, my upper half had precedent. I took in how beautiful she looked. A few drops of red sweat were hanging on her hair's streak, and the wind had thrown it to her other cheek.

"C'mon. Eat up." she grinned.

Once I started eating, her eyes were looking like mine a few seconds prior.

'Guess we'll have to see.'

"Yeah." She smiled, but our hunger didn't make for a romantic moment; so we both went through our first bowl pretty quick. One of the things I learned running Fight Club was that when you trained so hard you hated it, you could eat what you loved, and when you loved your training, you had to eat what you hated.

"…hey, um." She glanced over her shoulder, and her voice dropped. "When we, uh… you know. Satsuki."

I nodded.

"I… notice - um." She smiled like a lemming. "You don't talk about your parents at all."

'They're - um, still around.' I nodded, and the anxiety dropped from her smile. 'They don't care what happens to me at this point. They sent me off to Honnōji when I was fourteen - I got kicked out of highschool up in, uh - Hakodate.'

"Real troublemaker?" she grinned.

'Something like that - but Fight Club lets me get it out.'

We laughed. Our second bout of food came, but she got up once the waiter left and moved her bowl so she could sit next to me. I wrapped an arm around her, trying to eat with one-hand. She scooted closer -

\- I winced as she nudged my shoulder - " - ow -"

" - shit - sorry." she winced, seeing the bruise a second later. Uniforms usually healed you pretty quick, but Ryuko's growing strength had caught it off-guard.

'It's - alright.' I laughed.

"You sure?"

She was concerned, and my heart switched between my instinct to comfort her and getting lifted that she was worried about me. I'd never dated anyone before, so I still had some fear she'd get bored with me eventually. Thankfully, both of us were starting to become real suckers.

'It's alright.' I rubbed her shoulder, and she smiled.

"Just wanna make sure."

People started to shuffle out once closing time approached, and the silence pushed our words down until we finished our meal. We held hands under the table. My stomach started to fill with nerves. Again, I don't think I would've enjoyed that before; but I had never dated anyone before her, either.

"Do you wanna get dessert?" she said, laying her head on my shoulder.

'Could get something to-go.'

"Sounds good."

We ordered a box of mochi and set outside with it after we paid. She set it on her motorcycle, but didn't get on yet.

She turned to me and came closer.

I held my arms around her. I started to think about how stupid I probably looked, but I went with whatever was going to keep me smiling for longer.

"Outcast." She smiled.

'Ryuko.' I smiled.

We kept like that for half a minute. I was hoping she had something to say, but after another half, both of us started realizing we didn't.

'…um.'

My smile went lemming, and we laughed. We kissed for a few seconds longer than usual, and got on the motorcycle back home.

* * *

The next day after school, we met with Makoto at a skatepark in the one-star district. Someone had set up a few pillars around, and her club members had seats set up outside the park. It only took me glaring to get one cleared for me, so I had a front row seat of Ryuko&Makoto standing over a halfpipe, fifty feet ahead, street behind us.

"You ready?" said Ryuko, already transformed and blade drawn.

"One sec." muttered Makoto. "Speed Queen."

Her motorcycle appeared underneath her, and I saw Ryuko trying not to grin at the extra confirmation. Makoto started balancing on the rail of the halfpipe, turning back to the audience, plenty of rails and ramps around.

"Did your boyfriend destroy my fucking mailbox?" she grunted. She gave me the gaze of a reaper, and I caught Ryuko trying not to laugh.

"What?"

"Someone tore out my fucking mailbox - and you're -" - she pointed to me - " - the only retard who does shit like that."

'That's because every other retard is too weak to rip the mailbox out.'

I saw Ryuko hunch over with laughter.

"Fucking asshole." said Makoto. "What'd you do with the letter my mom sent me?"

My eyes pointed to my chocolate-loving girlfriend, and she started laughing so hard I thought her ribs would snap.

"Going to fucking report you." muttered Makoto, turning back to my chocolate-loving girlfriend. I guess for all her punkish attire, she was still just a sellout.

"You done?" grinned Ryuko.

"Fuck off. Speed Queen!" she shouted, and in the next instant -

\- her motorcycle leaped off&away from Ryuko, starting to put distance as she drove; with no time to waste, Ryuko rushed in pursuit. Makoto sped up to get to one of the rails ahead, and as she leaped on it -

\- it started to shatter as she ground the whole way down, and in the next instant -

\- Ryuko grunted like something had hit her, and I saw more of the rail decaying as Makoto landed at the end, forty feet still between the two. Ryuko's hands went to her chest -

\- and yanked out a dozen metal shards, grunting as she started her pursuit again, tapping Senketsu as she ran. I assumed she was adjusting his consistency or form, as she'd done in our training before.

Makoto started fleeing again, revving up on to another rail up to a pillar, and as she grinded up it -

\- she shrieked in agony as Ryuko laughed, ricocheted shards slitting Makoto's wrists as she got up to the pillar. Ryuko rushed down below, twenty feet away&down, blade drawn as she halted; ahead, Makoto leaped to another pillar -

\- her previous perch started to collapse towards Ryuko -

\- but a swift strand yanked her left&away, pillar catching only air as it collapsed beside, no volley erupting outward. I saw Makoto's tires tap the pavement, and in the next instant -

\- a hole opened up beneath Ryuko, ground collapsing and threatening to swallow her alive -

\- but a strand shot out of her palm & right -

\- but the section she'd hit started to collapse; and down she fell out of sight, Makoto pulling a few knives out and throwing them down -

\- but the next scene was instant. Ryuko bounced out of the hole & left, safe on new ground and strand catching every knife as she landed -

" - here!" she shouted, throwing one back -

\- and a wince went through the crowd as it impaled through Makoto's right cheek. I noticed then one of Senketsu's gloves was missing, but it reformed a second later. (As Ryuko told me later, she'd used it to form a web out.)

Thirty feet still separated the two, Makoto with knife-in-face. She yanked it out in a spray of blood, wound already starting to heal as Ryuko glared. I knew Ryuko was worried about coming in close.

"Got a better use for this." grunted Makoto, flashing her knife out; the sun's rays hit the metal, and in the next instant -

\- Ryuko staggered like she'd been blinded; throwing her left hand to her face, glove reforming to a pair of goggles -

\- and started instantly her rush up to the pillar, and before Makoto could react -

\- a whirl of scissor sliced the column in half; Makoto shrieked as she fell down -

\- but the ground started to collapse below Ryuko, throwing her off-balance again -

\- and I winced as Makoto's tires hit her skull and threw her down, back tires revving and grinding at her chest, front set turning to pin Ryuko's blade arm down -

\- but the next scene was instant. A dozen spikes burst out of Senketsu's chest -

\- and popped Makoto's back tires, new spikes growing to shred her front set -

\- but a swift leap off&towards us got her out of the hole, engine growling as she upped her pace.

She didn't look back as her tires healed, driving straight for the audience, eyes on me she came thirty feet within range. I got the feeling she was trying to pay me back for the mailbox, and as her motorcycle jumped over me -

\- a swift wind sliced her tires in half; I ripped my eyes back -

\- just in time to laugh when she hit the street behind -

\- and fell off her ride, concrete scraping her skin as she&it rolled separately down the street -

" - FUCKING CHEATING ASSHOLE!" she shouted -

\- we scattered to clear a path for Ryuko as she rushed out to the street after Makoto -

\- and got on her motorcycle again -

' - you were trying to hit me, fucking dumbass!' I shouted like a true punk. I thought Ryuko might've laughed, but she was focused then, keeping her run going down the street, parked cars&stores at regular intervals, sidewalks with trees beside -

" - fucking cowardly bitch!" shouted Ryuko; I guess she wasn't completely focused, but in the next instant -

\- a car was launched with the speed of a thousand towards her -

\- but a whirl of scissor went through the car; and in to a hundred pieces flew the automobile behind, gasoline&oil spraying Ryuko as she halted suddenly. We moved our seats to get a better look, and saw Makoto fifty feet away on her ride, new knife-in-hand.

"Here we go." muttered a man to my left.

'Here we go?'

Makoto pulled a cigarette & lighter out, flicking both alight. Ryuko was still covered in gasoline, and if Senketsu's strands tried for Makoto, she'd get burnt blacker&red.

"Yep." muttered my guide. Makoto slit her wrist, blood dripping on her bike. "Calls it her Vitamin A trick. Makes the half-life of it super low, and then -"

\- I saw Ryuko stagger like she'd been blinded; both of their eyes started to yellow, Makoto's vision staying still as she revved forward, cigarette outstretched; and as she came within range -

\- a set of strands shot to a nearby tree and slammed it in to Makoto, throwing her off her ride -

\- and through the window of a nearby store; Ryuko grunted as she rushed across the street opposite -

\- and out of the glass aperture stepped Makoto again, motorcycle reappearing&engine revving as she stopped at the sidewalk, two combatants on other ends and parked cars between. Gasoline dripped off of Ryuko's chest.

I saw more drops follow a second after, Senketsu hardening and squeezing it out. She wiped some off with her glove, eyes on Makoto on the other end -

\- who had lit up a new cigarette. I realized then every tree nearby had decayed, no hope of the same counter, and in the next instant -

\- a Senketsu bullet erupted from Ryuko's glove and hit Makoto's cigarette; the president shrieked in agony as it burst in to flames, half her face burning up -

\- but a swift rev of her tires snuffed the flame out, decayed as rage filled her face again -

" - WHAT THE FUCK?!"

'Can just give her your uniform now, if you want!' I shouted -

" - shut the fuck - off, asshole!" shouted Makoto, and Ryuko started grinning. "You wanna - I'm gonna tell your little fucking girlfriend how fucking - awful you are!" She pointed at me, and I'll admit fear bit me when she looked at Ryuko. "You - you know what he fucking did his first year?! The type of guy you're fucking dating?"

"Go on." chimed Ryuko, and I noticed then that Makoto had decayed the glass in the area, leaving cars with windows open and explaining her few wounds. Ryuko dipped her hand in the right-driverside window of one, face smiling over the roof. "What'd my boyfriend do?"

I was eager to hear, too.

"He - your fucking shitty boyfriend - went to my fucking sister's house. He dropped a flaming bag of dog shit on her doorstep -"

" - yeah, right -" laughed Ryuko - " - he doesn't even have a dog -"

\- and her face pinched for a second as I tried not to make eye contact. Makoto kept her yell going -

" - yeah! Second-year, this fucking RETARD - Fight Club's last president had a party and fucking invited him - you know what he fucking does?! He fucking spiked the keg with -"

' - those allegations were never proven!' I defended.

Mooka had disciplined the shit out of me for that one. Thankfully, Ryuko thought that anecdote was funnier than the last one.

" - you know - you know who Fight Club's last president was? She - Mooka was actually fucking cool, unlike that fucking loser -"

' - not cool enough to, to not get third-degree burns when I beat her!'

" - fuck off, fucking small-brained retard - "

' - I asked her if she wanted a glass of water, but -'

" - being a violent - fucking shithead isn't a personality - you need fucking therapy -"

' - five years from now! Five years from now, you'll be in the hospital for fucking lung cancer, and I'll still be fucking -'

\- my lips pinched before I bragged about Ryuko -

' - uh, still be fucking - strong -'

" - see how he fucking talks about you? What a fucking -"

\- she shrieked as a car horn blared -

\- and Ryuko laughed a second later, pulling her hand out of the driverside window, strands dripping and formed like a key, engine running.

"What's wrong?" she grinned.

Out of Makoto's sight, I saw her boots dig underneath the car. She might've been able to just run up and slice Makoto's bike, but she was worried about her blade getting decayed.

"Fuck you." grunted Makoto, turning her tires to tap her own car, and in the next instant -

\- she threw her lighter in to the gas tank; the flaming projectile was launched with the speed of a thousand at Ryuko -

\- but the next instant scene doomed her. A set of strands yanked Ryuko's car on its side, revealing the web she had planted underneath, and as the flaming automobile hit it -

\- it bounced back -

\- and I heard Makoto's skeleton crunch as the projectile blasted her against the wall, shrieking and staggering as she collapsed back, motorcycle on its side as the car decayed away -

\- and Ryuko's hand was around her neck a second later.

"Uniform."

"….f-fuck." grunted Makoto. I had the feeling she was taking it worse than Omiko. Her jacket had a red rib sticking out.

"Take your time." chimed Ryuko, stepping off.

It took a minute for Makoto to heal&speak again.

"…fine. Lemme get a change of clothes." she muttered. Her club members didn't wait for her to leave before gossiping, and the men started murmuring behind me before I got up.

"Your chick's fucking strong, dude." said one, patting my back. "Lucky."

I glared back at him and thought about ripping something off, and his friends started laughing when he shrank. I stomped up and kept my eyes going until I got to Ryuko, and she grinned when Makoto came back to give her her uniform. The real verbal shredding started once we left, and once we were out of eyesight, she had Senketsu absorb it.

"What'd you spike their drinks with, anyway?" she grinned, letting me have my arm around her.

'They claimed it was acid.' I shrugged, and she laughed.

"Jeez. Big troublemaker." She winked. "Who's next?"

'Still gotta get Cooking Club. Shitty clubs are starting to pop up, too.'

"And Fight Club, Friday."

'Yeah.' I smiled.

Once we were out of Honnōji's district, I took the note out of my pocket.

'…looks like it was right, though.'

"Yeah." She nodded. "Seems to match up, yeah. Guess he's helping us after all."

'Think he has one for Cooking Club?'

"Maybe. Wanna go check?"

'I'm in the mood for takoyaki.'

We started on our way, and I kept my arm around her the whole time. She started grinning when I let it go lower.

"Jeez." She laughed. "At least wait until we get home."

'Haven't had it since last night, you know.'

"Yeah." She smiled as we got up to the gates. We went inside and started looking for the takoyaki cart.

I remembered Senketsu could hear me, and decided to put my arm above wholesome range. She looked at me like something was wrong, and my eyes kept pointing to her Kamui's. She laughed as we came up to the familiar takoyaki cart.

"Another forty?" he said, tray already ready.

"Yep. Got Cooking Club next."

"…Cooking Club. Cooking Club, Cooking Club… Kagume." he muttered. "Don't bother using your fire arm."

'Do you - you know his ability, then?'

"No." he muttered, dropping the battered balls in a bag I hoped was sturdier than the last. "A&V is in there."

"Uh - wait, what?" said Ryuko, letting it sit. "What about his?"

"Is he giving you -"

\- he stopped as I felt a presence behind, and dread pushed my neck down as we turned to face Satsuki.

" - money to pay?" he said, quick on his tongue.

'I - am.' I muttered, trying to dig in my pockets -

" - it's on the house." stated Satsuki, her eyes not on either of us. "Consider it a reward."

"Of course, Lady Satsuki." He smiled with the experience of someone that had worked retail for twenty years. "Please - may I make you anything?"

He was good enough that even I got convinced for a second. I took the opportunity to back out of range as Ryuko blocked Satsuki from me, and those eyebrowed eyes leaped on me once I scooped the bag up. I had my lower-right on the bottom of it to handle the heat and felt the card inside.

"What are you doing here?" said Ryuko.

"Checking something." She smirked. "Have your dog give me the bag."

"Why?"

"I wasn't asking." she said, and everyone but Satsuki looked at me like I was an imbecile when I handed it over.

She started checking inside. "Your dog eats like a pig." Her fingers started getting frustrated as they dug to the bottom. "Disgusting."

"You - done?" grunted Ryuko.

"Please, Lady Satsuki." said the man. "If you would like -"

" - you burned a few of these." muttered Satsuki, shoving it back to the man. "Make a new batch."

"Yes, Lady Satsuki."

He crouched down away from sight. I had never been the smartest person in the room before, and I didn't like how it felt. If I wasn't careful, I might've started learning dangerous things like 'technique'.

Ryuko realized it and started grinning. "Done?"

"…done." muttered Satsuki. She turned. "Enjoy."

And she was gone. The man didn't say anything to us after the new batch, and Ryuko&I went home.

* * *

Cooking Club took a month of failed appointments to schedule, and though I had gone around beating any new club president I could find, I was starting to itch for an actual fight. The first months of the semester were good for bonding with Ryuko, and we eventually got to a schedule where there wasn't a day one of us didn't get a uniform.

I started to feel it, too. Her strands were tight enough I couldn't break out of them anymore, and her sawblade had cleared a couple dozen trees by accident in that forest. Her claws were much worse than the ones she had in bed, so I guess the aggression was starting to transfer over to that, too. I didn't mind, but I enjoyed our softer sessions the best.

We'd skip class some days and order delivery to eat in bed, and even when we were separate, a smile would drift on to my face whenever I thought about her. She told me Senketsu thought I was a bit of an ogre, but he seemed happy with me dating her otherwise. I wondered if some day I could hear him talk.

Eventually, Cooking Club's president finally submit, and Ryuko came to watch. Kagume was a French transfer student who'd gotten kicked out of a culinary school in Lyon, and while they were dating, his ex-girlfriend had told people it was because he'd made a better ratatouille than his instructor.

After they broke up, she revealed it was really because Kagume broke out in hives if he touched an onion, and Ryuko was ready to test that theory when he lost.

We arrived in Honnōji's cafeteria. The tables were all turned over and set aside in rows, and his club members were off to one wall for spectators. A door at the back-right led to the kitchen. Bizarrely, there was a prep station & fridge set up at the other end of the room, three hundred feet away, and Kagume & three men were leaning against the stove.

"Finally." droned Kagume. "I thought you might've gotten cold feet."

Ryuko set off to spectate.

'What's with the stove and fridge?' I said as I kept against the front doors.

"Three dishes - and three judges." he said, gesturing to the men. They went off to a prepared table by the side and sat down. "If you're worried about their bias - they're from other clubs, chosen randomly."

'Three dishes? You're asking me for - what, a fucking cooking competition?'

"What, did you expect me to fight you? Why would I bother with that? You're Fight Club's president - I'm Cooking Club's. I cook. I don't fight. Get it?"

'I could just beat the shit out of you and leave.' I said, and Ryuko started laughing. 'Get it?'

I felt like a wrestler with a one-woman crowd. (I had always admired Chono, though I never ended up with a broken neck like his.)

"Solve everything with violence. Despicable." He sighed.

"You know he could just out-eat you too, right?" grinned my peanut gallery girlfriend. "Unless you're trying to cheat." Her hands dug in Senketsu's pocket where the bulging onion was.

"…fine." shrugged Kagume. "Fine. My uniform - or your's, and your girlfriend's."

I wanted to say 'that wasn't part of our deal', but I thought it'd look cooler to double down. My eyes confirmed it with Ryuko, though I doubt she had any intention of honoring it.

'Fine.' I said, and a murmur went through the crowd.

My arms went taut with three hundred feet separating us. I wouldn't use my fire arm for this, and Kagume walked over to the fridge.

"Enjoy." he laughed, throwing the door open, and in the next instant -

' - is that a fucking moose?' I panted -

\- and there, bursting out of the fridge, was a fucking loose made of meat. It rushed at me like a marbled nightmare down the corridor; I braced myself as it came in range -

\- it slammed in to me and threw me down; I gripped it tight as we hit the ground fighting. Its legs kept bucking and antlers kicking as four arms pinned it down; one hook to its face got it staggered, and as I threw it off me and stood, I gripped its antlers -

\- which both snapped in half, leaving me with no hold as it shot up again -

\- and smashed its skull right in to my chest, no tender meat as it stabbed my breath out; electrical arm readied, I grabbed it by the former-horns -

\- and sighed as no current came, water arm readying to grip the other -

\- but it bucked me with the strength of an ox away in to the wall behind; I grunted as I stood again, turned-over tables besides me my meaty foe. A few people were starting to taunt me -

" - come on!" shouted Ryuko over the rest, and I tried not to smile as it went back down the corridor, charging at me again -

\- but a carpet of icicles formed in its path; sudden counter too quick, it started to slip, legs thrashing back -

\- but a globe of red liquid hit its feet; and it stopped suddenly in its tracks, saving it as it halted again. I saw Kagume carrying a spray bottle on the other end, six eggs in his other hand.

He threw the projectiles forward, and before I could react -

\- they hit my headless face, hood temporarily revealed as the yolk burst outward. Tendrils of yellow started rushing in to my throat, and as they slid down -

\- I hated the next instant scene. I swept my wind arm to my mouth, and as a swift wind hit my uvula -

\- I vomited a few seconds later, expelling the foul yolk in a green&yellow streak, ice arm freezing it as they came back out -

\- but a bizarre scene met my stare ahead, hood disappearing as I saw the moose had turned green. Starting its charge anew, it leaped up&over the carpet, suddenly moving far swifter; I turned my back -

\- and braced as it slammed direct in to my shell of icicles, uniform turned frozen hedgehog. Sweeping my electricity behind, a bolt of lightning charred it to ash. With no time to waste, I started my charge again, new eggs flying towards me -

\- but a gust of wind blast every last away as I veered right. Ryuko started laughing as I caught up a table and hurled it -

\- the projectile hit Kagume as he sprayed his body green -

\- and the table slid off like he was covered in oil, spraying new liquid on his body -

" - wait!" shouted one of his club members - " - Kagume, don't do the fucking camo shit, he'll fucking -"

\- and I caught what he meant as Kagume turned suddenly invisible, body starting to shimmer and disappear; but I had a different plan than with Omiko. Ryuko nodded to me out of the corner of my vision, reminding me on my lack-of-water. Aiming my ice arm up&ahead, a dozen icicles burst out -

\- and started instantly to fall, arc sweeping the path ahead as they fell -

\- Kagume reappeared just ahead of me, projectiles catching his green body -

\- and sliding with the speed of light back at me; a gust threw them back -

\- and they slid left-off of him as they hit him again, club members dodging underneath as he started fleeing back. Keeping my rush going, I saw him spray the floor green ahead -

\- and he slid with the speed of a thousand away, reaching the kitchen door quicker than me, rushing inside and slamming it behind. I ran up to the middle of the wall, and a blast of wind carved my entrance -

\- to a shrieking Kagume forty feet ahead, rows of counters flanking us as I swept inside, preplanted ingredients left but before I could get in range -

\- eight tentacles erupted out of a plate left; smacking me back and away, a new set threw me back -

\- but a wall of ice blocked my former entrance; and in to the sudden barrier I smashed and halted, spectators booing in the other room with their vision now blocked. Kagume was still forty feet away, eyes on his only exit that had been his entrance.

"Come on!" he shouted, spray bottle readied like a gun, " - you don't think I can - could handle your fire-arm? Is that why you're not using it?"

My one-woman audience couldn't hear me, so I didn't bother playing to the crowd. More plates started to rumble ahead, and in the next instant -

\- a set of fangs hit my ankle; my vision ripped down -

\- to see three reanimated snakes, fangs dripping and readied; but a blast of wind carved them in to gore -

\- and ice froze my wound, keeping the venom from spreading as wind forced my blood out; but in the next instant -

\- the snakes' entrails shot towards my vision, geysers of blood seeking my throat -

\- but a gust of wind blew it back to Kagume's eyes -

\- and I laughed as I saw him stagger back, blinded as I started my rush again. His green&slippery oil couldn't keep his eyes safe. As he wiped them out, I swiped a nearby chef's knife and threw it forward -

\- and he gagged in ways he shouldn't've as it pierced his right eye, still blinded as new tentacles shot towards me; electricity coated my body as they gripped me -

\- and they started to twitch, reflexes in their blood throwing them off me. Once I was within twenty feet, a final set shot towards me -

\- and ice coated my body, slipping their grip off; truly no option left, Kagume started to run back, slippery speed in his step as he rushed away -

\- and slammed right in to a wall of icicles, spikes impaling him twenty ways as he screamed.

It wouldn't have worked normally, but I liked using his speed against him.

"…h-help… c-concede…" he gagged through the spike in his neck, but I was proud of my four-handiwork.

'One sec.' I went back to the initial ice wall and shattered it, and got everyone but Ryuko's horrified stares for it. 'This fucking retard just ran right -'

" - fucking get him out!" panted one of the men, and Ryuko kept laughing until I went back and melted Kagume's iron maiden. His body looked like he'd met a bad end of a porcupine, and he had fallen unconscious, too; so I brought him back in to the cafeteria. His wounds started to heal, and a conscious groan gurgled in his throat after a minute.

'Uniform.'

I held my hands out as if to receive something.

"…m-minute…" he groaned, sitting up. "…y-yes."

He waved his surrender and went out of the cafeteria. He came back wearing a no-star, and I grinned to Ryuko once he handed his uniform to me.

"Thanks, dipshit!" chimed Ryuko, ripping the onion out her pocket; his eyes went wide as he ducked -

\- and I ripped the human shield up just in time for it to hit his face; he started coughing and gagging immediately, and RyukoI were the only ones laughing when his skin went red -

" - you know he's like, seriously allergic, right." said one of the men.

"What the fuck is wrong with you two?" said another.

I dropped Kagume and four arms shrugged. I was going to help Ryuko kill Satsuki, so I wasn't going to let the allergies get to me. For a second, I could tell we were both thinking about smearing it on his face, but the audience's eyes said we should leave.

We kept our laugh until we got outside, and Ryuko absorbed his uniform somewhere without cameras.

"Guess he really is allergic." She grinned. "Let's go check our next hint. Still need A&V."

'Sounds good.'

We went to the two-star district and checked for the familiar takoyaki cart, but I should've expected what was waiting. This time, he looked to be on the bad luck side of feminine. I wasn't even sure he was male until I heard his voice.

"Good afternoon." bowed the new server. "How many pieces of takoyaki for the gentleman and lady?"

He had some exaggerated sense of importance for a man that sold fried food. Ryuko frowned, but knew not to ask questions.

"Forty." she said, and his brow raised.

"Goodness. You shouldn't be eating that many - but, I suppose with that size…" His head shook as he started. "It'll be… ten thousand yen."

I sighed as I paid. I missed our mystery man already.

"Have your classes been - good, recently?" he said. "If you're both two-star, I assume you're hard workers."

"Mmhm."

"What - ah - what are you president of? The, club?" he said, gesturing to me.

'Fight Club.'

"I don't believe I've - sorry, heard of that one. What do you do in that?"

"Fight." blinked Ryuko, and he laughed.

"Of course."

'What happened to the other guy? The one that's usually here?'

He frowned. "I - do not know, unfortunately."

"Is he coming back?" said Ryuko.

"I - apologies, but - I do not know."

Silence paused the air. He was still only halfway done.

"And the lady?" he said, gesturing to the lady. "What club are you president of?"

I thought about telling the truth and saying she was Fight Club's vice-president, but neither of us wanted to prolong the talk.

"Cooking." she said, and I tried not to laugh.

"Ah." he nodded. "Well - do you have any tips for me? Any recipes -"

' - can you just make our food?' I said, and Ryuko burst out laughing at his frown.

It probably wasn't that funny, but we were meaner together than we were separate, like two slime balls of hate.

"… of course." he muttered, and he started going quicker.

I paid for our food, and Ryuko&I went home. We spoke once we were inside.

"Guess they must've - uh, fired him. Or…" She frowned, and I nodded.

'Or Satsuki got him.'

"Yeah."

We sat on the couch and ate. Every now and then I'd grab one, and she'd swipe it out of my hand before it left the bag, making both of us grin.

"…wonder why he was helping us, though." she muttered. "Or only me."

'He did warn me about Kagume, but - yeah.' I frowned. Cogs in my brain started spinning. 'Just told me not to use my fire. Didn't even get to see why.'

"He might have… dunno. Might've had something trigger if you tried to use it. Maybe the oil was flammable."

'Maybe.'

"Still - he knew about their uniforms, too. That's gotta be - I don't know who would even know about that. There's not anything that says that stuff, right?"

'If there was, I would've told you.' I smiled. She laughed. 'People usually know mine - but, I mean. Can't really hide it.'

"Yeah." She laughed. "Still - I dunno. Maybe just someone who - figured out I'm going to kill Satsuki. Wanted to help me out, somehow. Right?"

'Yeah.' I nodded. She laid her head on my shoulder, and once I finished the last pieces, I set the bag off the couch. We laid down, and she got her head on my chest.

"…maybe." She yawned. "…mmm. Can we cuddle?"

'Of course.'

* * *

Audio & Visual only took a week past Cooking Club to schedule, and Hito had gotten the entire no-star district to stay in-doors for it. His club had never had a female member in four years at Honnōji, and though I wanted to say it was because he looked like a pipe cleaner with the bristles taken out, I had never had a female member of Fight Club besides Ryuko, either. Some things couldn't be explained by lack of physical strength.

A&V's members had brought in plenty of trash of their own, and once we came in to one no-star street, they were sitting on the curb. Hito was three hundred feet away and at the end of the avenue, powerlines and empty businesses left&right.

"That's far enough!" he shouted. "You'll be starting there."

"Great." muttered Ryuko.

'Every time.' I said, relevantly.

We kissed, and once I went off to the curb, the nerds cleared for me. I heard them muttering the same myths about anabolics, but once Ryuko transformed, they started asking each other what type of uniform she had. They could've asked me, but I guess it was better to not know anything with your friends than get a lie from me.

Ryuko stood in the middle of the road. Hito was wearing a camera like a necklace. People sometimes gossiped he had the best uniform at school, so I was eager to see.

"Are you ready?" he said, " - darling?"

\- and rage filled both Ryuko & mine's faces.

"Fuck off." she grunted -

She started her charge forward, three hundred feet separating the two, and in the next instant -

\- Hito flicked his camera; a dozen photos of grenades shot out towards her, and as they came up close -

\- a swift volley of bullets shredded every last -

\- but the explosion still erupted outward; the shockwaves threw her with the strength of a thousand back, and as she flew -

" - Senketsu!" she shouted, throwing one glove back -

\- and in to a sudden fabric wall she smashed&bounced off, reaching halfway to her target as she flew forward; another three photos hit the road ahead -

\- and a quick strand stopped her in her tracks, yellow gas beginning to erupt right before her eyes. Her previous wall disappeared, glove reappearing as she threw her face in to her hands -

\- and weaving a red&black gas mask, breath safe as she peeled left, veering down the sidewalk&buildings. Starting her charge from a new direction, another set of knife-photos shot towards her -

\- but the next scene was instant. A strand erupted from her glove and hit the store left, yanking her up to the roof, projectiles catching only air. I saw her rushing and leaping on another few buildings; Hito's aim turned to her as she landed on one, and a photo hit the store -

\- and burst instantly in to flames, orange fire rushing through the roof and walls, new photos hitting ahead of Ryuko -

\- and the ring of fire shrouded my sight. I heard Ryuko curse as the roof collapsed, smoke hiding her from me, Hito with aim still on the burning building. Another volley of photos hit the front wall and started slicing it up, foundation starting to collapse inward -

\- and the rain of rubble still burned as it collapsed down, leaving ruins smoldering; the smoke cleared, and in the next instant -

\- Ryuko burst out of the front doors of another business ahead, few wounds but for singed cheeks, still two hundred feet away but keeping her left-path, sticking close by the poles of power. Hito's confused aim turned towards her again, new photos erupting as she passed a power line -

\- and a strand yanked her behind the wooden pole, photos catching only buildings again. New cover found, she started sweeping and yanking herself to the poles, Hito rushing back as she kept getting closer-in-range; but he couldn't last forever.

She yanked herself to one casual pole -

\- a photo hit the power line above -

\- and exploded in a rain of electrical water, falling with the speed of a current on to her; her palm swept up -

\- and a dozen Senketsu-pellets burst out and swallowed every last, electricity charring what was pieces of her gloves to ash as she kept her rush going. She'd told me Senketsu's Life Fibers regenerated pretty quick, and I saw her gloves starting to reform as she came up fifty-feet away from Hito -

\- and he started to run right&away, street corner up ahead; Ryuko rushed in pursuit, but as he passed under one casual power line -

\- a Senketsu bullet hit the pole; it started to collapse towards Hito, still-live lines touching his skin -

\- but his hands flurried wildly around himself, photos of what I'd assume were rubber keeping him safe&uncharred as he kept his rush away -

\- and disappeared down the street corner right. Ryuko veered to the right sidewalk, corner just ahead, stores like the previous right. A sweep of her strands brought her to the wall, and up she climbed, boots digging as she came to the roof.

(She went out of sight for a while then, but she told me what happened later.)

She rushed across and right to see the street below, Hito still with aim on the street corner; with a laugh, she leaped down, and as she landed right behind him -

\- on a dozen photos of knives. They sliced instantly through her boots&skin, blood spurting as Hito turned -

\- a dozen bullets entered his chest; his camera shot another photo -

\- her sword sliced the store's wall left; and in she swept, photo catching only air as she rushed across the room to the back wall. It's been cleared out for the duel, so the floor was empty, shelves gone and perfect sight lines.

By the time Hito rushed in on the other end, fifty feet away, Ryuko had planted a field of fabric balls ahead. (She couldn't manipulate Senketsu's gloves from that far, but figured Hito wouldn't know.)

"You - you know." he panted. "You - really do look lovely."

That's when she decided how she'd treat him after. He mumbled a few more words, made a few gestures with his hands, but Ryuko didn't take the distraction.

"…fine." he sighed loud enough for her to hear; his hands went to his camera, and in the next instant -

\- one trampoline photo erupted out, nine knife photos following, and before she could react -

\- the lethal projectiles hit the trampoline and ricocheted around; more trampoline photos erupted and hit their brethren, swift knives bouncing around, trampolines reflecting the photos with the speed of light at Ryuko -

\- but the next scene was instant. A right&left strand shot to the ceiling left&right, yanking sections of concrete down -

\- and crushing down the foul projectiles; she grunted as she stood again, fifty feet separating two -

\- and noticed then the electrical wires hanging from the two apertures; before she could react, a new water photo hit the wires, and as the conductive mist burst outward -

\- another volley of fabric plugged the electrical swarm, keeping her safe as she stood again.

"Ryuko." She told me Senketsu had said to her. "If he does it again - I cannot guarantee I have enough excess Life Fibers left for that."

"Right." she mumbled. "Recall it. Need enough for our saw."

(She told me Senketsu had microscopic strands that even she couldn't see, and that was why his excess Fibers would appear to disappear, tiny strings that'd suck up them up like a spider's web and moisture.)

At any rate, the field disappeared; Hito had three photos in his hand, Ryuko tapping the back wall, and in the next instant -

" - saw!" she shouted; Senketsu's saw burst out of her midsection as she rushed along the wall, carving and spinning through the barrier in an instant, and as the building started to collapse in on them both -

\- Hito threw his photos up -

\- and that was the last she saw before the rain of rubble shoved her down.

By that time, I had gotten a better view of the action, just at the intersection, the prodigal building ahead&right. There was a hardware store across the street, parked cars, and Hito's building was half-collapsed. Some of his photos were stuck on the ceiling and reinforcing it, but he still backed out on the sidewalk, throwing more photos in to the ruins -

\- and the explosions tore the rubble in half. I wondered if REVOCS would appreciate all the demolition; but I didn't have time, because in the next instant -

\- the ground started to rumble behind Hito; with the speed of light he turned -

\- out of the road burst Ryuko, claws readied to shred his neck alive -

\- but a strand erupted from her back and yanked her away, Hito's sudden knife photos in his hands as she flew over one casual car -

\- three strands caught it up; she hurled it forward as she landed back -

\- the two-ton projectile hit Hito head on; and in to a hundred pieces fell the vehicle, gasoline&oil covering him as he grunted and groaned. The knife photos had shredded it quick, but not enough that his bones weren't crunching -

\- another car flew with the speed of sound towards him -

\- but more photos entered each projectile, corroding them away like they were acid -

\- and leaving him unmarked this time, my car-juggling girlfriend temporarily unemployed with the new counter, hardware store behind her back. Readying for a new job application, she swept inside, disappearing within the building. Hito stayed still in place -

" - not going to fall for it again!" he shouted; a volley of acidic photos entered the building -

\- and dissolved the entire thing like it'd been dipped in a vat, not a drop left or trace of Ryuko, shelves with some merchandise taken out of them. He glanced back expectantly, but in the next instant -

\- she burst out of the sidewalk ahead a thick bullet hit his face -

\- and burst in to flames; he shrieked in agony as the sudden blaze claimed his body; raining himself in new photos, water doused his burning body -

" - thanks, fucking retard!" shouted Ryuko, her next bullet far thicker than the last, and as it hit his face -

\- the hydraulic concrete inside burst instantly outward, sudden prison claiming his face and hardening around his skull; acid too dangerous for him now, his fingers tore desperately as Ryuko rushed up, coming in to range -

\- but a shockwave blasted her back&down the road -

" - no you fucking don't!" she shouted; a strand erupted from Senketsu's glove and yanked Hito with her as she flew -

\- and threw him back down the same flight path down the road; I started laughing as I saw his body scraping and rolling, concrete slicing his skin and tearing his prison &everything else up, red skidmark down the road as he rolled for hundreds&hundreds of feet down -

\- and finally slowed his roll near a gas station lot, powerlines drawn overhead. I lost sight of Ryuko again as she rushed up, only a black&red dot in the blue&white distance. We started to run ahead -

" - STAY THE FUCK BACK!" she shouted, and I'll admit it whipped me to stop.

She had another lighter she'd stolen from the store, hiding it in another Senketsu projectile; aiming it right at the gas station, she shot the tanks fifty feet away -

\- and the explosion claimed the entire lot, shockwaves ripping up the road and shattering pavement in its wakes; firefumes claimed Hito, smoke blasting towards Ryuko out of what was the station -

\- but a swift spin of her sawblade blew away the blinding black, keeping her vision straight as she saw Hito on the ground ahead -

\- and covered in photos of steel, having kept him safe (or just alive) as he stood again, fifty feet separating the two. Flakes of skin were hanging off his cheeks, and the powerlines were knocked down, leaving a minefield of wires between the two.

"…f-fucking crazy bitch." he grunted, throwing a water photo in to the wires -

\- and Ryuko laughed as no explosion came, electricity gone from the lines, poles having been torn up in the explosion. Her eyes caught his camera vomiting up photos of fires; he was thinking she'd grab him with Senketsu's strands, ready to burn the coils up if she did.

Ryuko stepped closer, twenty feet separating the two, left boot digging in the cracked ground.

"Left." she told me Senketsu had said. "There's a path - but I need him to our left."

A bullet erupted from her right palm; Hito dodged left, road cracked under his feet -

\- and the next scene was instant. A strand burst out of the crack below and yanked him down; Ryuko rushed in pursuit, left boot left behind as she came within range, Hito throwing his photos up as he fell -

\- Ryuko's blade sliced his armor in half, fire photos falling above -

" - Senketsu!" she shouted; a net burst off of Senketsu's back and caught the photos, Hito with new acid photos and grip shooting for her sword -

\- she threw it with the speed of light away, right hand shooting to Hito's neck -

\- and smashing him with the strength of a million against the pavement, bullets carving his last photos to bits -

" - c-concede - p-please -"

" - fuck off." she grunted, scooping him up by his neck -

\- and slammed him so hard in to the ground, the road burst up behind her like a mismatched seesaw. (Her strength swelled my heart with pride, admittedly.)

At that point, I asked her not to tell me what she did next, as I knew my version could never concede to reality. I heard Hito screaming about concessions, honor, and rules for the next few minutes, and no one but me would have dared venture in to peek. Once or twice, something snapping filled the air, and a few minutes later -

" - Outcast!" she shouted, and I saw her at the top of the ramp, dragging a nude&unconscious Hito. "Come here!"

His club members started protesting, but my stomping overpowered their speech as I got up to Ryuko. His wrists sat at a wrong right-angle, and she hadn't waited for him to heal before absorbing his uniform.

"Let's fucking make sure he wakes up - real fucking nice." she grunted, and I felt like a helpless toddler as I followed her away. Once we got to an area that wasn't demolished, we ducked in to an alley out of sight.

"I'll keep an eye out. Do whatever you want to that fucking asshole." she said and stomped back.

Hito was already having to walk home nude, would lose his house, and get sent to the no-star district. There wasn't much I could do to make it worse, but I still had an idea.

I zipped my pants down.

* * *

Fight Club was Friday, though it could've been renamed **_'Charity of Ryuko'_** by that point. A few dozen people had shown up to see her, as she'd gained a reputation. Supposedly, most guys were jealous of me, so I kept my arm around her when I spoke to drive it in.

'You know the deal. Vice-president Ryuko fights you -'

\- Satsuki's face came on the television.

"Fight Club's President - report to Student Council's office immediately."

I knew she'd sent it in my room only, the way the school's electronics were set up. I stood still for a second as everyone got their eyes on me.

'… Ryuko. You've got this, right?' I smiled, but I could tell she was starting to worry. It clearly wasn't another janitor-job.

"Yeah." She nodded and tapped my back, and whispered for me to be careful. I turned to kiss her in case it was my last, and walked out to the hall. Student Council's office was on the other end of the school. I started running once I was out of eyesight. Satsuki was already pissed at me, and I didn't see Gamagoori or anyone else on my way to the elevator.

I took it up. It took a minute or two, and I was thinking whether I should have my uniform active. Pro: I could fight immediately if I needed to. Con: Satsuki would kill me if she saw it as a threat. Pro: I'd go down fighting. Con: Ryuko would be upset.

I actually paused on the last one. I was really starting to get obsessed. I had started feeling like no one else understood me but her, to use a cliché. It was probably true, though. She'd never asked anyone for help but me, and I was her accomplice.

My fear of what was going to happen when she finished grew, but the doors opened to Student Council's office then. Satsuki was standing over the longtable, and she gestured for me to sit down. As far as I could tell, the Elite Four weren't with her.

I sat tense. My eyes never left her or her eyebrows.

"You've been busy dueling recently. Why?" she said.

'Why what?'

I really had to keep my smartassness down. A lifetime of that role didn't prepare me well.

"You've been taking their uniforms after you beat them. Why?"

'I - just like the trophies, I guess -'

\- she gripped my hair and smashed my skull against the table, and my sight filled with dots.

" - don't think I'm an idiot." She had the strength of her Kamui in her grasp. I wasn't about to struggle unless I had to. "Why are you giving them to Ryuko?"

'W-what?'

She ripped and smashed me again. My nose was starting to bend, and stars were burning holes in my vision.

"Fight Club - Ryuko Matoi, vice-president! Tell me why!"

She must not've known Senketsu's absorption.

'T-trophies - f-for her.'

"You're a fucking imbecile if you think I'll believe that."

I really, really had to resist 'could've fooled me'.

She ripped me up by my hair and threw me down to the ground, starting to stomp on my chest. Every breath I had was getting shoved back in my lungs.

"I could cut your fucking head off - uniform or not." She pulled her blade off her back. "Bakuzan. Specifically made for destroying Life Fibers."

'W-what do you - e-ev- want?' I gagged between stomps.

She pressed her weight down on my ribs.

"Disband Fight Club - and convince Ryuko someone else murdered her father."

I didn't like that I considered it. It was formerly easy to have principles without the fear of death over me.

'I…'

She took her boots off me.

'… c-can d-disband - Fight - Club.' I coughed as my breath came back.

"And?"

'… c-can't - convince her.'

"Worthless fucking rat."

She raised her blade again, and I thought she'd decapitate me. She was really enjoying my terror.

"Activate your uniform and stand up."

I pressed myself up, still swaying. My two extra arms barely responded, going taut, and before I could move again -

\- she sliced both off; I screamed as her blade went to my neck -

" - see how easy it was?"

' - y-yes!'

"If you fight another president with those resewn, I'll cut all four of them off."

'I-I won't.'

"Thank me for my mercy."

'T-Thank you. Lady Satsuki.'

The tip of her blade touched my heart.

"Leave. Reconsider whether you can convince Ryuko."

'I-I will. T-Thank you, Lady S-Satsuki.'

I backed inside the elevator and saw her grinning when I took it back down. Life Fibers were hanging off my gone-arms like a dropping red bouquet. I only had wind and ice left. Ryuko had been fast in battle, but Satsuki's need to murder me had me actually scared. I tried to muster anger to fill my mind and push my fear out in the two minutes it took the elevator, and I swear she made it slower just for me.

When I got back down, Ryuko was rushing down the hall with an expression of rage -

" - KIRYUIN-"

\- she saw me run out of the elevator to her and gasped. We met at the middle of the hall and she hugged me like I'd died.

"You're - y-you're okay?" she panted, and I nodded to try to keep up my durable image.

'She - took my extra arms.' I winced, and she nodded rapidly. She almost looked like she'd been starting to cry. 'Are - are you alright, though?'

"Yeah." She nodded, and her anger started coming back. "I am. She - she. She, she fucking… Did you hear the intercom?"

'I - not in the elevator, no.'

"She fucking said that Fight Club was disbanded, and I thought she…" She started breathing as short as I had been for a different reason. "I thought she - f-fucking killed you."

'She…' I glanced at my amputated uniform. 'She took my extra arms. Told me - not to get them repaired.'

"She's trying to slow us." grunted Ryuko. We started stomping back down. I preferred the rage to the fear, so I tried to keep it going too.

'She forced me to disband Fight Club, though. That's one fucking thing she got.'

"Fucking c-crazy bitch. I ran over here as soon as I heard that fucking announcement."

'She tried to get me to - she told me to try to convince you someone else killed your father.'

"She - what?" She glanced over.

'That's what she said - told me to disband Fight Club, and convince you someone else killed your father.'

Her rage was getting worse every second.

"She's trying to fucking drive a wedge between us. That's what she's trying to do."

'Yeah. Trying to make me think you're the one responsible for it - not her.'

She nodded.

'I'm - I know it's not your fault.' I said. I wanted to reassure her, and she smiled.

"…yeah." She nodded again. "…ugh. I can't wait to fucking - I can't wait to fucking kill her."

'Me too.' I had a reason besides Ryuko, now.

"…still. I can still keep fighting club presidents, but… Are you gonna be alright?"

'She told me not to fight with them resewn.'

"… Sewing Club will know, too. If you get your uniform repaired and fight."

'Right.' I nodded. She had started to understand Honnōji over the past few months. Iori, Sewing Club's president, was more loyal to the Elite Four than anyone else in the school, being their couturier. 'Looks like I've got a restriction, then. Only have wind and ice left.'

"Yeah." She nodded. "Just - be careful, okay?"

'Careful. Almost sounding worried for me.'

She smiled, but I think I accidentally hit her spot-on. "Yeah - because I know if I didn't tell you, you'd go and get your arms attached right now and still try to fight."

She really did know the effect she had on me.

* * *

Without Fight Club, our progress started to slow. Fewer people were willing to accept my challenge, and since it was a foregone result against Ryuko, fewer people were accepting her's. I heard people starting to sneer about my amputated arms, and after a week, the Life Fibers hanging off were starting to rot and turn black. Fortunately, the rest of my elements were working, and we managed to scrounge up fourteen uniforms over the next month.

None were Two-Star, though. I asked my parents for a raise of my monthly allowance, and I think they only said yes because they wanted me to stay quiet. You couldn't buy past One-Star, but I had something different up my formerly four sleeves. The bribe got people interested, and within another month, Finance Club's president, Jian, was willing to stake his uniform. He scheduled it at the end of one Thursday, and I met the purple-robed prince in my old room.

"Money?" he said, holding his hand out. I don't know what I expected.

'Fifty thousand.' I sighed and handed it to him. I'd beat it back after.

For some reason, he started sniffing it. Honnōji was full of weirdos with power. It really was preparing me for life.

"… Senshū." He smirked. "This is from Senshū Bank. Know how I know?"

He continued without waiting for me.

"Their ATM machine - how it crinkles the bills. You have an account with Senshū - that's where you withdrew. Isn't that amazing?"

'Senshū is the only bank near Honnōji, retard.'

He frowned, and in the next instant -

\- Satsuki's voice filled the entire school -

" - ATTENTION! HONNŌJI ACADEMY!"

I thought I heard Ryuko groaning from across the school. Jian stopped and held his hand up to listen.

"The past two months -" - continued Satsuki - " - has shown the pathetic weakness of our club presidents. Men and women? No, pigs and worms. I wouldn't even spit on the ground you vermin walk on."

It was accurate, at least.

"To correct this - next Monday begins a snap election. Any Honnōji student who is not a pig in human clothing will enter the arena and fight against every other entrant - at once. Whoever stands on the highest pillar by the end of it will gain a Three-Star uniform, and show themselves to have arisen above the rank refuse."

"The highest pillar?" muttered Jian.

"Curfew begins in five minutes. Leave and rise above."

Jian sighed, held his hand up and walked away. I couldn't be more pissed - he was fucking surrendering.

'Hey! What about our fucking fight?'

"What, and get beaten by Gamagoori for going past curfew?

'Yeah, you fucking -'

\- he walked out the door, and I stomped out after him.

' - I'm talking to you, dickless fucking bitch!'

"Leave me alone, man. Why are you even fighting all these presidents?"

'None of your fucking business - but you think just because Lady Satsuki-Motherfucker comes on the intercom -'

" - Gamagoori!" he shouted. I realized then that I could get expelled for my comment about Lady Satsuki-Motherfucker.

'Fucking room temperature IQ bitch. Use some of that money to buy yourself a working scrotum.' I said and stomped off. I was hoping I wouldn't run in to Ira when I was coming around the corner, but I found something better. Ryuko had the same expression.

"You fucking heard that, right?"

'Yeah. Sure fucking did.'

My anger normally went away when I saw her, but I was really living it livid then. We kicked our way down the hall and downstairs.

"She knows what we're doing. Won't be able to get as many uniforms this way - someone else'll fucking get to the presidents first in a free for all. Might end up destroying all their uniforms."

'Yeah. Did you hear that shit about the pillars?'

"Yeah. Any idea what that is?"

I shoved open the door for her and we walked out.

'...uh. I… I don't, actually. Probably some stupid…'

"…some stupid shit that she'll announce the day of. Something that gives everyone she likes the advantage."

'Yeah.'

We'd started to cool by the time we got to the two-star district, at least, and we were calm when we came to my front door.

'… Do you want me to enter?'

"I..."

I opened the door and she sighed as we stepped inside.

"… trying to think."

'You know it's up to you. Whatever you think'll work better.'

She smiled. I really was Ryuko's bitch.

"…yeah. If you can, I don't think you should enter. Might help leave me more uniforms to absorb, during it."

I nodded, glad she had confidence in me. 'I won't enter, then. I'll just stay as a pig.'

"We agreed you're a dog." She grinned.

I barked.


	4. No-Star Eunuchs

With no club presidents left available, I got my uniform repaired, and made note to Iori that I wasn't going to be dueling with it on. He pretended he didn't know what I was talking about.

We found out what the pillars were the next Monday. They were poking out left in land cleared behind Honnōji, and it was already the tallest building I'd ever seen. The front doors had a sign that said _**'ENTRANTS'**_ and one by the side that said _**'PIGS'**_, which I assumed was for spectators.

"Alright." She nodded. I could tell she was trying to stay calm with the end so close. "I checked up on it. Plenty of people competing."

'People were surprised I wasn't.' I shrugged.

"Yeah." She grinned and tapped my chest. "Still. I want you to know that… When I win today. Us training together, and... I'm really glad I met you."

'I'm - really glad I met you, too.' I smiled. We kissed, but we couldn't stay together long. We went to the left where a crowd was. 'I know you can do it.'

"Yeah." She nodded and grinned. "Remember our plan, right?"

I nodded. Once she won today, there wouldn't be much for new uniforms to absorb, so she'd challenge Satsuki as soon as she could after.

"See you later."

And she was gone. I watched her go in with the rest of them. Gamagoori was at the front, and I couldn't see the others yet.

"Out of the way." said Inumata's voice behind, and he tried to shove me aside. I let him do it today and went over in to the pig door.

There were only a few dozen walking down the hall, and we went through and started up the stairs after a long walk. I could already hear the commotion from the battleground, but it had started to fade after a few minutes of walking, as the spectators' area was far from it.

Once we got to the bleachers outside, raised high up, I saw the battleground in the distance. There must've been a hundred wide pillars set up at various heights, with four at the top, and another one even further than that, Satsuki's. They'd arranged it so that you couldn't get through without fighting the Elite Four, and judging by the silhouettes I saw, they had given them a headstart.

There was a gigantic screen angled right of the bleachers. Fortunately, my seat had a good view of it, up near the back and doors. If I squinted, I could see people coming out and jumping on to the tips of pillars, but it was no way to watch, so I just kept my eyes on the screen. Ryuko had already sliced through the lower ranks, rapidly ascending and leaping her way up across another set.

With the presidents we'd gone through already, there wasn't much real competition, though the camera drones were trying to present a fair story. It'd center in on someone with a Two-Star leaping on a pillar - Ryuko would come from offscreen, slice their uniform off midleap, and she wouldn't look back as she jumped off their midair body.

The crowd loved that, but no one was cheering louder than me. I probably looked pretty stupid or lovestruck standing up yelling her name as loud as I could, but I got a big smile when I saw her pause for a second right after I shouted her name. I'm not sure she could hear me from there, but I hoped she did.

Out of the excess sleeves of my uniform, I dragged out the two six-packs I had smuggled in. (I wasn't the one fighting that day, after all.) I was about three cans in by the time she stepped on to another pillar, nearly at the tip of the four.

Four men were on one end, and the dickless bitch was there with his purple robe to block her. The camera got blurry as it tried to get a good view, but I caught some static that sounded like her shouting, followed by Jian's hand raising up.

She started her charge forward, blade in one hand and strands in the other; the four men rushed at her -

\- and I saw their undressed bodies fall, Ryuko suddenly right ahead of Jian and leaping up -

\- and her boot smashed his skull down; she leaped off again and didn't look back as she got to the next pillar, landing with a roll and a wink to the camera. The little crowd went ape-shit like she'd meant it for them.

I knew it was for me. The losers were starting to file in, and the view centered right on her, the only one besides the Elite Four left.

A kick and leap again, and she was at one of the four tallest pillars. The camera drone swept up to see her and caught a full view of her ass. I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed everyone got to see it or pleased they did, since I knew every straight man there - and some women - would be jealous of me. I almost thought about yelling how good she was in bed, but I held it in on account of Ryuko.

Inumata was on the other end, already transformed, right arm red and left arm blue, knife in red.

Ryuko started her charge at him, blade outstretched; his blue fingers snapped, and in the next instant -

\- she was at the other end of the pillar & still running; sudden counter too quick, she rushed right off the edge -

\- but a dozen strands burst out of her back and clung to the pillar -

\- but the next scene was instant. Inumata's right arm disappeared, reappearing next to her strands -

\- and a whirl of steel went through her transportation back, leaving her still falling with one lower pillar ahead -

\- and a swift Senketsu strand brought her forward to it, grunting as she turned, barely on the camera's corner by then. Satsuki's voice filled the speakers -

**" - TEN SECONDS TO RETURN, OR FORFEIT!"**

I groaned just as Ryuko did. Nine seconds left, a strand shot to her pillar's ground, web spreading out from it; eight seconds left, she rushed and leaped on to it -

\- and it launched her with the speed of a thousand back up; Inumata's right arm appeared beside her as she flew -

\- but a dozen spikes burst out of Senketsu, keeping it at bay as she landed on the pillar again, fifty feet still separating the two. She glanced down as her boots hit the ground, though I didn't know why. The two started circling again, and as his right arm appeared behind her -

\- her blade spun to meet it, bullets erupting out of her glove and carving his knife to bits; his hand pulled back -

\- and the pieces reformed to a longer blade, just floating off of the pillar, next volley of bullets blocked by new steel.

Ryuko's eyes kept going to the ground with every step of their clash, and every now and then, she'd stumble like a pebble had been shoved in her way. My eyes followed her path along the perimeter. Every time she'd try to get to Inumata, his right arm would reappear to block her, or she'd get teleported to another edge of the pillar.

I noticed eventually his blue arm was missing, and in the next instant -

\- Ryuko stomped down -

\- and Inumata screamed in agony as his blue-arm reappeared, a dozen holes torn clear through his uniform staggering back, his right arm disappeared -

" - Electronic Regalia!" he panted, and in the next instant -

\- he disappeared without a shimmer; Ryuko spun as her eyes searched -

\- but she knew how to handle it. Her grin went wild as she ripped a strand out of Senketsu, and as a woman might start a lawnmower -

\- she yanked it taut; Senketsu's sawblade formed as she rushed across the perimeter, gaining speed and encircling inward every second -

\- and the whole crowd booed as Inumata uncloaked and waved surrender. He wasn't looking to getting decapitated that day.

Ryuko started stomping over, blade drawn.

"Uniform, dipshit!" she shouted loud enough the cameras heard it.

The drones peeled away, more willing to protect Inumata's honor than her's, and a commercial break started playing. The irony that it was of REVOCS' supreme uniforms wasn't lost on my drunken head. I kicked open another three and started guzzling.

Below me, I saw the club presidents we'd gone through. The expressions they had didn't give me the idea they were rooting for Ryuko, which I found ironic, given we weren't the ones that had doomed them to no-star life. That was Satsuki.

I shrugged and decided to make up for them by standing up and shouting again. People around me started scooting away, and I was making them pretty uncomfortable.

'RYU - KO! RYU - KO! RYU - KO!'

I'd gone on for a few minutes when I saw Inumata step inside wearing a black sweater. He really wasn't doing himself any favors in such a metrosexual outfit. As he passed by me, I shouted so loud I wished his eardrums had burst.

'RYU - KO! RYU - KO -'

"- don't even fucking start, you fucking waste of space."

I grinned and sat down as he stomped down the bleachers. Unsurprisingly, the only seats empty were within my splash zone and back. He was pretty pissed about having to look up and see me smiling back at him.

Without his uniform, no one would've listened to him telling them to clear a seat. He started shrinking when he went back up the stairs in to the row above me.

'Welcome back.' I chimed, and he didn't look at me.

"Fuck off. See how your fucking girlfriend handles Gamagoori."

'I can't wait.' I said, and turned back to the television. In the interim, Ryuko had gotten on to Gamagoori's pillar.

His black&orange armor covered his body like a dreadnought, and eight tentacles came out of his back. I started wondering if I should've paid for more arms on my uniform, but the two started circling then, sixty feet between them.

Gamagoori started his stomp forward first. After the last counter, Ryuko was wary, and as three tendrils shot for her -

\- she swept left & away, tendrils catching only air; stomping down -

\- she nodded, no hollow pillar found this time as another two shot towards her; her blade met with one -

\- and her blade disappeared, reappearing where she'd just been prior, new tendrils seeking to grip it -

" - Senketsu!" she shouted as she swept underneath one, glove aimed towards her mid-air sword; a ball erupted out -

\- and launched her blade back & away; starting her rush left, weaving between new tendrils - but the full set was seeking her flying blade now -

" - Senketsu!" she shouted; a new ball hit her blade -

\- and launched it clear off the pillar; no option left, she took a leap up -

\- but a swift gust of wind blasted her in to the ground, tendril bursting out right above her as her blade started to fall -

\- but the next scene was instant. Her claws & saw formed as she dug with the speed of light down -

\- and in to the pillar she went and burrowed, Gamagoori's tendrils catching only air as his footing rumbled, sudden hole forming where Ryuko had been. Her blade fell off the screen -

\- but I realized she didn't need it. The pillar started to totter -

\- but Satsuki's voice filled the speakers again.

**"NO PILLAR DESTRUCTION!"**

She had an exaggerated sense of fair play, but I knew Ryuko wouldn't risk whatever forfeiting would've meant. My drunken mouth let out a 'fucking bullshit', and I started talking about Satsuki as charitably as our takoyaki-man had about her mother.

**"TEN SECONDS TO RETURN TO THE PILLAR!"**

Ryuko reappeared onscreen, climbing up the pillar with her claws. Her blade was back on her back, and Gamagoori was at the center of the pillar, eight tendrils and eyes spinning for her.

**"FIVE!"**

Ryuko grunted, still a hundred feet from the cliff; a strand erupted from her glove and yanked her fifty up -

**" - FOUR!"**

\- another strand; Gamagoori turned, and I knew he'd heard her then -

**" - THREE!"**

\- she peeked her head out -

\- and swung away just in time for the glob of acid to miss her, corroding the ground where her chin had been a second ago. She started swinging randomly along the pillar, left fifty, right thirty, left ten, right fifty -

**" - ONE!"** shouted Satsuki, and in the next instant -

\- Ryuko swept up behind Gamagoori, and in a sweep of her blade seeking one tendril -

\- that caught flat against the exterior -

\- and its gust of wind blasted her with the strength of thousand away -

" - Scourge Regalia is invincible from the outside!" he shouted to the camera, and everyone but Inumata groaned at the brag; even Ryuko as she flew; a strand yanked her back to the pillar, one tendril bursting up behind her as she landed -

\- and the sharp end zipped a gash down her back, revealing her underwear under her armor for everyone to see. Unsurprisingly, every camera drone went behind her. If the view on the screen wasn't so enticing, I'm sure people would've taunted me. (Surprisingly, Inumata had been smart enough not to.)

I noticed Gamagoori's tendrils had retreated back, and in the next instant -

\- six burst up behind her; a strand yanked her away -

\- right in to another two; her blade met with one -

\- and the second one gripped her right-ankle and threw her back in to another -

\- which spanked her right to the next -

\- and the next -

\- and the next -

\- and the next.

The cameras swept down for a full view of it, and every strand she tried to escape with would get sliced up by another tendril. I got angry to push out the dread I was feeling. I'm not gonna say how long that minute went without Ryuko being able to get out. I'd just started to look away, but the crowd started to gasp, and I caught the next scene -

" - fuck - off!" shouted Ryuko, dropping her blade as another tendril spanked her to the next, and as she flew -

\- she threw one of Senketsu's strands around it, lasso tethering it tight as she landed on it, and as another few shot towards her -

\- she swept away and down to the ground, hands tight on the lasso, and before he could react -

\- she ripped him up by his own tendril and smashed him against the ground, sawblade forming at her midsection as she lifted him up again -

**" - FUCKING INVINCIBLE FROM THE OUTSIDE?!"** she shouted so loud I heard her twice. **"HOW ABOUT PAIN?!"**

She ripped him up again and smashed his skull against the pavement, and his neck bent in ways it wasn't supposed to. Again and yet again, she ripped his tendril up and smashed him back down; the full barrage was shooting for her and trying to tether her now -

\- her free hand ripped out another bouquet of strands, throwing them out to the other seven -

\- and the keen strands curled around, hands working at the speed of her Kamui as she tied them all to the original one.

"Thanks, dipshit!" she shouted, knowing there wasn't a chance of loss now.

The next scene felt so good I felt myself cheering automatically. Again and again, she smashed him down, and keeping the fish on the line, she hung him off the pillar. I almost thought she was going to drop him two thousand feet down.

The camera drone swept around and the crowd booed again as the image went blurry for a second, but I saw Ryuko's plan by the time it cleared. Gamagoori was hanging off a noose of his own design from the side of the pillar. I wasn't sure if he was dead. I'd be upset if he was, as I never thought my girlfriend would be a kill-stealer.

He went limp in it, and his tendrils started cracking open. (Invincible meant durable, apparently.) His uniform was starting to burst; if it was gone, he'd be dead a long way down. Ryuko waited until all but one of the tendrils broke before she ripped him back up and smashed him against the ground again. I don't even know if he was conscious by that point.

"I'm going to show you how it feels, you fucking asshole."

She sliced his uniform in half, repairing her own, and the cameras weren't quick enough to hide a nude Gamagoori. The drones started flying away -

" - no, show him, too!" shouted Ryuko offscreen, and yanked one back in, leaving nothing unexposed. The crowd started laughing. I was personally grateful I had much less of a problem down there than he did.

"Maybe I'll castrate you, too!"

She had just gotten the tip of her blade to it when the screen said _**'WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK'**_. Everyone hated it.

By the time I stood up, five in, a few other people were starting to cheer too, but I wasn't one to be outdone. My voice could pierce the heavens.

'CASTRATE THE BITCH, RYUKO! STOMP HIS DICK OFF!'

I shouted a few slurs that wouldn't be good to repeat, made fun of his problem, and heard Inumata groaning every time I got someone else to join in.

_**[I told you about the ultraviolence!]**_


	5. No-Star Eunuchs 2

Gamagoori didn't show up for a while, and I had drank another two cans by the time he came in with a shirt and jeans. I was really curious if his voice was higher. I wanted to beat the shit out of him, but I'd probably get kicked out, if the public intoxication wasn't bad enough. I'd stomp his face until it went red another time, though I did pelt him with the seven empty cans I hadn't thrown away.

'Recycling, bitch! Fucking no-star castrated bitch!'

I laughed to myself and turned back to the television. For some reason, the next match had more setup than the last, and I saw why once it got to Ryuko on Nonon's pillar.

She had a fucking floating battleship with about a hundred feet on Ryuko. She wasn't anywhere near the pillar, and if Ryuko took a leap towards it, it'd be certain death. I wondered how it even worked as a uniform, but the cameras sweeping over it didn't give any answers. Nonon was standing at the center, holding a conductor's baton, cannons&speakers pointed at Ryuko. For a second, I saw her ship had thrusters underneath.

"Don't look so scared, Miss Matoi!" she laughed, and in the next instant -

\- a missile hit the pillar; it started instantly tottering, one explosion taking a bite out of the midsection -

"- see how fast that was?" laughed Nonon, and in the next instant -

\- Ryuko swept faster than light back -

\- and a laser charred the spot she'd just been -

" - or do you wanna jump right at me?" laughed Nonon, battleship swaying. "I could blast your ashes a thousand feet down!"

Another volley of missiles erupted outward -

\- and Ryuko swept back just in time as they exploded ahead, constant barrage striking the pillar's tip, chunks of concrete flying as she weaved&dodged. Nonon's missiles started biting down on the pillar, foot-by-foot, ship's thrusters lowering to keep level with Ryuko.

Another fifty missiles burst out of her cannons, and as they flew towards Ryuko -

\- the next scene was instant. A strand burst out of her glove and expanded to a web -

\- but the missiles still tore right through -

\- and she swept with the speed of light forward&underneath as the explosions burst behind. Her pillar was already shorter than the last one, and every time she tried to slice the missiles in half, Nonon's laser forced her to dodge. For some reason, her speakers started playing what sounded like metal.

"Come on, Miss Matoi!" laughed the conductor, baton weaving as her missiles flew ahead -

\- and Ryuko swept right just in time to dodge the laser -

\- but not in time for one explosion to throw her back, a second blasting her off the pillar -

\- and a strand brought her back to the chunked battlefield. Senketsu's eye was starting to scar. Another explosive volley got launched towards her -

\- and the next scene was instant. She leaped up and forward, landing on one flying missile; new volley flying towards her ahead, she leaped to another -

\- and another, and another, and another -

\- and her strands yanked her underneath the next as Nonon's laser missed her, swinging through to the next missile, only sixty feet separating her from Nonon's ship -

" - I can just quit firing, dipshit!" shouted Nonon -

\- and her explosive volley stopped, leaving Ryuko with no new platforms ahead -

\- so she swung back the way she had came, landing on the pillar again, sending chunks of concrete everywhere in her landing. For some reason, she spread her arms out -

\- but the next instant scene told me why. Two enormous & sharp tendrils burst out of her gloves and in to the ground below, burrowing and burrowing down. (Admittedly, she looked like she was playing a videogame with two joysticks.) Nonon started laughing again, but as the next explosive barrage flew towards Ryuko -

\- Senketsu's tendrils burst out of the ground and impaled every last projectile, retreating back just as quickly; frustration growing, another fifty missiles flew at Ryuko -

\- the tentacles erupted out again; I saw Nonon's laser flash -

\- but didn't see it land; I realized why a second later. A third Senketsu tendril had grown out of Ryuko's back, flinging concrete chunks to block the beam whenever it appeared. The screeching conductor tried a few more times to hit her, but every missile was getting impaled, and every laser was getting swallowed.

My drunken head thought it was a stalemate, but I saw something odd when my eyes went to her tentacles' burrows. They were wider than they'd needed to be for just Senketsu -

\- and the next scene was instant.

" - Senketsu!" shouted Ryuko; the pillar started to rumble lower down -

\- and a dozen tendrils burst out of the pillar&below, every single missile impaled on them like kebabs; they threw them upin to the ship -

\- and the blasts tore Nonon's thrusters in half; sudden counter too quick, the captain shrieked as her ship started to fall -

" - nononono **FUCK!**" shouted Nonon, and I saw her baton working a furious pace, ship starting to nosedive and sink, ground a thousand feet below -

\- and thankfully, the cameras followed Ryuko's descent first. She started leaping down every pillar she could, missiles & lasers blasting them to shreds behind her, constantly running & rushing off pillars, landing&rolling on to the next. Once or twice she took leaps so fast even the camera couldn't follow - it'd try to anticipate her, but couldn't get out of being danger close to Nonon's missiles.

Frustrated, whoever was controlling them zoomed out, and we got a view of the next scene. Nonon's ship was swaying near the ground, hovering ahead of the first pillar -

\- and Ryuko fell from the top of the screen, screaming with the speed of sound right on to Nonon's ship; as she boarded, the speakers turned to greet her, and in the next instant -

\- a soundwave blasted her with the strength of a thousand off the ship -

\- and I winced as I saw her smash&skid right in to the ground, just ahead of Nonon's ship. Senketsu's eye&patch were gashed, and she'd left a red streak where she'd landed.

"I, I have shit you - can't fucking reflect, too!" grunted Nonon, speakers all turning towards Ryuko now -

" - Senketsu! Claws!" shouted Ryuko, and as the soundwaves screamed towards her again -

\- the claws burst out of her hands; she dug with the speed of light down, burrowing ferociously and desperate to avoid the next volley -

\- and underneath the ground she went, hiding her from sight and soundwaves hitting only air. I only saw vague movements of Ryuko underneath the ground like a mole, but they were starting to fade.

The conductor-turned-captain started laughing in a way that scratched the speakers. Originally, she had actually been my least hated member of the Elite Four, but her voice was making a strong case. It sounded like birds being burned alive in a shoebox.

A new set of missiles blasted the ground, explosions starting to form holes.

"I can find you with these, Miss Matoi!" laughed the voice of breaking glass -

\- but the crowd gasped at the next instant scene. Ryuko burst out of the ground behind, gripping the skyscraping pillar as her strands shot around it; Nonon's whole ship turned -

" - what, are you trying to climb back -"

\- and her literal shriek pierced the speakers as the entire pillar collapsed towards her, Ryuko's sawblade slicing like a lumberjack below -

\- and all we heard was what sounded like an "oh fuck" as the entire pillar landed & cracked Nonon's battleship a thousand times, captain going down with her ship as she screamed. The cameras zoomed so far out I could barely see Ryuko, but the black&red dot on the screen was running on the pillar, red streak following her as she sliced through the pillar to a thousand chunks -

\- and Nonon's battleship fell apart on the next; out of the back-end, a white&pink streak got ejected out of it -

\- and I laughed when I saw her skull smash in to another pillar, hat gone. The camera drones swept in again to get a good view of her -

\- and immediately pulled out, as I was the only one in the audience not gagging. Her skull had shattered enough that her face looked like a crumpled cloth. (I'd expected to hear Satsuki's voice disqualifying Ryuko, but it never came. I drank another can to celebrate both events.)

A few notes from a harp filled the air, and the view swept back down to a healed-Nonon. Ryuko was (what looked like) two hundred feet away, wreckage of the capsized ship&pillar behind her -

\- and wearing Nonon's hat. I started grinning as hard as she did.

Nonon had her trumpet out, lips on the mouthpiece, and in the next instant -

\- a dozen soundwaves shot towards Ryuko; she burrowed underground again -

\- and everyone laughed at the next instant voice -

" - NO - NO BURROWING!" shouted Satsuki - " - TEN - THREE SECONDS TO RETURN - ONE!"

\- and Ryuko burst out of the ground a hundred feet ahead of Nonon, pilfered hat still on. Some people started gossiping whether the whole show was scripted. My alcohol-pickled brain almost bought it for a second, before remembering Ryuko was my girlfriend, but in the next instant -

\- a soundwave blasted Ryuko away; she threw her glove back as she flew -

\- and a swift Senketsu web caught her, keeping her only a hundred&ten feet away. Starting her rush again as she landed; ahead, Nonon gulped one huge breath -

\- and the true show started then, constant barrage of notes erupting outward -

\- and stopping just thirty feet ahead of Nonon, literal notes in the air forming a wall like landmines. Nonon closed her eyes with puffed&red cheeks as she blared all she could in to that fucking trumpet, new notes replacing any of her lost soldiers.

Ryuko came up fifty feet away and halted; raising her glove forward, a bullet erupted outward -

\- and one of the notes exploded a second later, leaving a miniscule hole in the wall -

\- but was just as quickly replaced.

It might've been the spectator advantage, but I think I figured it out before Ryuko. Uniforms were tuned to not be able to hurt themselves or their wearers, and her grin told me she realized it a second after. Swiping Nonon's hat off, she threw it forward, strand attached as it swept through the wall -

\- and swallowed every last note defused, keeping her rush going, entire wall disappearing as she came forty in range -

\- thirty feet, another dozen soundwaves shot towards her -

\- but her pilfered hat swallowed them again, and as she came twenty within range -

\- the next scene was instant. Aiming both her gloves forward, two spikes erupted outward -

\- and crucified Nonon right against the pillar; she screamed in agony as her trumpet fell -

\- and Senketsu's gloves shot another dozen nails through her -

\- but _**'WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK'**_ filled the screen again.

Half the crowd was cheering for her now. I'm pretty sure people only felt safe to cheer once she was winning, but I was her biggest fan, to use a cliché.

'CRUCIFY THAT DIPSHIT, RYU - KO!' I shouted, and I swear I heard another scream from Nonon in response. It was probably just my stomach, though.

The feed eventually came back, following Ryuko's ascent back up. Half the pillars had been blown in half or had their tops shattered, so she was leaping on towers with a few bites taken out of them. Once or twice she had to use Senketsu's strands like a grappling hook.

'MUSIC BITCH - GONE! WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING SHIP!' I shouted as I saw Nonon step inside. She flipped me the finger and started stomping in to the row above me.

'ANOTHER BITCH DOWN!'

I laughed to myself and opened another can. I was at ten by then. Sanageyama was next, and possibly Satsuki. I'd only have two more times to celebrate.

Once I looked back, Ryuko, as always, was on the pillar. Sanageyama was on the other end, wearing a white cloak adorned in Japanese and a katana. (Otaku Club had always begged him to be their president, but given that his girlfriend was real and not fictional, they never had much luck. He had a thing for ganguro girls, too.)

"Ryuko Matoi!" he shouted. (Again, ascended otaku.) "I, Uzu Sanageyama, will be your opponent!"

Ryuko blinked like she was mirroring the crowd, sword&strands drawn. Sanageyama started backing away, and it started raining for some reason; only on the screen, though. I glanced at the battlefield and saw clouds gathered over one pillar, matching what the camera was showing.

He waved to one drone, and it zoomed out so it wouldn't get wet. The two started circling. Ryuko stomped once to check the pillar, but she didn't want to charge first yet.

He raised his hand as if to receive something, and in the next instant -

\- a bolt of lightning struck Ryuko -

\- and she grunted, twitched, but still stood at the end, Senketsu reconfiguring to insulate her as she started her charge. More bolts of lightning dropped from the clouds and struck her as she ran, but as she came thirty feet within range -

\- a gust of wind blew her back -

\- and the traditional Senketsu web kept her from losing progress as she landed again, starting her rush ahead again -

\- but another gust of wind blasted Sanageyama off the pillar, a second shoving him groundward -

\- and his katana pierced right in to the pillar fifty feet down, hanging by one hand as Ryuko came to the cliff. She glanced down, gloves readied for whatever came next -

\- but nothing came but another bolt. Sanageyama kept hanging with his eyes on her. For a second, I thought she might've jumped and stomped his head a thousand feet down, but in the next instant -

\- the rain started to turn to ice, clouds turning white above; Ryuko swept back -

" - Senketsu!" she shouted, strands shooting to the ground as a hailstorm of icicles formed above, and as they started to fall -

\- she threw her gloves above, desperate material reforming as the rain threatened to pierce her -

\- and a Senketsu dome formed overhead, iciciles catching nothing but fabric as they fell. The frozen downpour started speeding up in pace -

\- and a dozen Senketsu tendrils burst out of the dome, throwing them back to the sky. The spectacle kept for a minute longer, new kebabs sprouting to swat away the projectiles. Once or twice holes opened up to let a few icicles in, and after a while, the rain started again.

Once the dome fell, she came out drenched, Sanageyama still hanging off the edge of the pillar. Aiming her gloves down, a dozen bullets erupted out -

\- but caught only air as Sanageyama swung to dodge, still hanging on his katana, cloak swaying and dripping. Ryuko glanced at the camera as she aimed her gloves down again -

\- and winked; in the next instant, Senketsu squeezed out its water -

\- and the geyser of water blasted Sanageyama with the strength of a thousand down; he screamed as he fell, thousand foot death below -

\- but a swift cloud formed underneath him, leaving him even lower than before. Grunting as she turned, Ryuko stomped back, scooping the excess icicles off of the pillar.

"Fine!" she shouted. "We can fucking play this, dipshit!"

People were starting to yawn, but the screen still kept some eyes on it as she went over to the cliff, starting to throw the excess icicles down -

\- they melted before they hit Sanageyama, but I saw the bullets contained in -

\- and the first dozen shredded his face; he screamed again as he staggered -

" - still got plenty left in here!" she grunted, as angry as I was at the lack of spectacle -

\- another dozen shredded right through his chest, clouds forming to keep his staggering backwards safe -

\- and I saw his pockmarked eyes glance up at Satsuki's pillar, seemingly nodding. He waved his hand in surrender, and new clouds formed stairs to the pillar, kneeling to Ryuko like a true samurai.

"Uniform!" she shouted, not even waiting for a response before she sliced his clothes in half, repairing her own. She glanced up at the pillar, and her eyes told me Satsuki was still there.

"Satsuki Kiryuin!" she shouted, blade drawn - " - I challenge -"

\- a figure appeared at the top of the screen, falling down behind Ryuko; with the speed of light she turned -

\- and swept away just in time to avoid her vicious swipe. The new arrival gripped Sanageyama up and threw him off the pillar, leaving only Ryuko and her. Gasps filled my ears, and people started gossiping whether her arrival was scripted.

Even for Honnōji, she looked weird. She was shorter than Nonon, wore heels taller than Satsuki's, and a pink schoolgirl's uniform more feminine than Inumata. Her face looked like someone had broken it and tried to put the jigsaw pieces back together, and she was wearing an eyepatch. I rallied all the brain cells the alcohol hadn't killed for one important question.

'Who the fuck is that short retard?'

"REVOCS best couturier. Nui, dumbass." said Nonon behind me.

I turned to face the other short retard. 'Who are you calling a dumbass?' I coughed. 'Fucking fetal alcohol syndrome dipshit."

She got angry then and tried stepping up, but when I did, I still came over her eyes. The screen started talking behind me, but I was focused then.

'I could beat the shit out of you without your uniform. Fucking faggot dwarf could get thrown off the fucking bleachers. Go get some lolicon from Otaku Club to molest you.'

l felt the last bit of sympathetic people in my row scatter as Inumata and Gamagoori stood. I'd like to think I looked tough -

" - do you still think Satsuki killed your father, Ryuko?!" shouted a voice behind, and I got jolted back as I turned and slumped down. It'd come from REVOCS best couturier, Nui.

"Then how do I have - this!" she laughed, and my stomach upended with dread when she pulled it out. "We're matching, Ryuko!"

It was the other half of her scissor blade, and Ryuko's expression was a mask of rage when she saw it.

I'd never seen her that angry before. I heard the three she had already dealt with starting to laugh about it. My drunken self swayed between starting another fight there and shouting even louder.

I pressed myself up, already swinging back and forth, got all the air I could in my lungs, and yelled something that made me a laughingstock for the rest of the day -

'I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU, RYUKO!'

She paused again as the two circled, and I'm almost certain she heard it, tone filled with alcohol and all.

'I LOVE YOU! YOUR BOYFRIEND LOVES YOU!'

"Shut the fuck up, retard!" shouted Nonon back and to my left.

'You - shut the fuck up, you flat-' - I spun back just in time for Gamagoori to stomp over the row and shove me to the ground.

"Get the fuck out of here."

(He had not been castrated.)

I went limp when he tried to drag me up, trying to press with all my weight down. My parents had a dog like that that never wanted to be picked up, and it worked as well for me as it did with him.

'Nnno.'

"Leave him alone, Ira. Let the stupid brute make an embarrassment of himself." said Inumata.

Gamagoori covered up the sun from the angle I was laid in. He started to smile.

"…no, you're right. Go ahead."

He dropped me back down, but I honestly felt pretty comfortable down there. I could still see Ryuko's match.

"Go." said Inumata. I think he was gesturing to me. "Go on, yell some more."

'Why the fuck would I listen to you now -' - I coughed - ' - fucking faggot. Joints on your pussy bitch hands sit at a fucking right angle.'

Someone heard my whisper and giggled.

'Your nuts fucking shrivel in to raisins out of that little homo uniform of your's.' I mumbled. 'Invisibility. Fuuccking. Faaag.'

I mumbled more about Inumata's potential homosexuality. I didn't mean anything homophobic by it, though. I started watching the match again. Ryuko had managed to flip the entire pillar upsidedown, and she was standing at the tip of the screen. For some reason, the camera didn't flip upsidedown with her. I wasn't sure how she was managing to stand upsidedown, either, but I thought it might've just been a new Senketsu ability. That Kamui really was something.

Her and her upside-down combatant started stepping closer in. Ryuko had already checked the pillar for any tricks, but I saw her stomp again to reassure herself. They started speaking low enough that the cameras couldn't hear, but every few words filled Ryuko's face with rage -

\- and she rushed at Nui with blade outstretched; Nui's half blocked it, Ryuko's strikes craning her down, pressure forcing her further & further back. Their blades were moving fast enough I could barely catch it, and every inch Ryuko gained, Nui would manage to slip out to her right & back.

Ryuko's blade struck her's again, strength forcing Nui against the pillar's edge, and in the next instant -

\- Nui swept with the speed of light around, sharp heel kicking Ryuko off the edge, laughing as she fell off -

\- but a swift strand burst out of her back; she swung to the opposite end of the pillar. Nui turned, and the two rushed at each other, blades clashing again - Ryuko stomped down -

\- and a strand burst out of the ground and shot to Nui's leg -

\- but she sliced it away in an instant, laughing as she backed away. "What a unique uniform you have. I wonder who made it for you!"

Ryuko was too focused to say anything then; their blades clashed again, red&purple streaks in the air as they circled.

"Just think - your boyfriend can watch you die, can't he?"

For some reason, I liked that Ryuko looked her angriest then; but she quickly calmed, another swipe seeking Nui's neck -

\- but she swept underneath; her blade entered Ryuko's stomach -

\- but she stomped herself off of Nui's face, freeing her as she landed back, grunting as she stood, and in the next instant -

\- a strand shot to our camera drone -

\- and the feed went static as it smashed in to Nui's skull; the crowd booed immediately, and my spirit sank. I could only hear somebody screaming, and by the time the feed had come back -

\- Nui had her blade in Ryuko's back -

\- but Senketsu's spikes had her impaled like a hedgehog; the couturier thrashed, throwing herself&blade off -

\- and Ryuko panted as she spun, excess Life Fibers stitching her wounds together. For some reason, it'd look like she had a few hanging out of her veins; but I didn't have time to think then. Nui was rushing back to her from the other end of the pillar, and the two halves of their blades met again.

In a whirlwind of blows and pink&red tatters they revolved around the pillar. It was the only time I'd ever seen someone able to match Ryuko's speed. I wanted to yell another love declaration, but I didn't want to distract her for a second. She rushed at Nui again, eyes on her legs, and as her vicious swipe got caught -

\- another strand burst out of the ground and shot to Nui's grip; the nails on her other hand went to shred it -

\- but not in time to avoid Ryuko's kick to smash her right knee; Senketsu's sawblade burst out of her boot -

\- and Nui shrieked as it ripped through her leg, chunking and tearing chunks of skin -

\- and tearing her leg clear off as she hobbled back; but what followed wasn't blood. Ryuko mouthed what looked like a 'what the fuck?'. Nui's gone-leg was dripping Life Fibers, and before she could react -

\- it got yanked back on, laughing as she stood again. Another set of strands started stitching her back together.

"You're going to have to slice better than that, Ryuko!"

Ryuko actually looked worried for a second, and the gossiping started drowning the speakers as they fought again. I assumed it was part of Nui's uniform; every now and then, she'd back away and slice her own arm open, Life Fibers dripping out where her veins should've.

Her swipe caught Ryuko's blade again; the two shoved their weight in again, and before Ryuko could react -

\- Nui's grip shot to her face, nails gouging at her skin -

\- and she kicked Nui back just in time to avoid losing her eyes -

\- but I winced worse than anyone at Ryuko's peeled skin, layers of blood underneath; another dozen strands burst out of Senketsu and stitched her scars. Blood and Life Fibers were twisting together on the pillar by then, and as Nui rushed at her again -

\- Ryuko stomped down again -

\- and the next scene was instant. The ground started to rumble underneath Nui, circle getting carved out by strands&saws, chunks of concrete buckling below her feet; sudden footing lost, she stumbled -

\- another dozen strands shot to her blade-arm as Ryuko rushed forward -

\- but a whirl of scissor went through the coils; her blade met with Ryuko's again -

\- and a Senketsu tendril impaled through Nui's back and out her chest; blood gushing and sudden gasping, Ryuko's left claws burst out -

\- and sliced Nui's hand clear off, Life Fiber veins desperately coiling to keep her blade-hand steady; Ryuko stomped -

\- and a gigantic tendril went all the way through Nui from below. Nui's grip unclenched -

\- and the next scene was instant. Ryuko scooped the blade up, smashing them together to form one scissor, two blades gripping Nui's neck -

\- and sliced her foe's head clear off, both ways cut. Every spectator got quiet to see if the zombiac spectacle would return. I slumped back up to my former seat.

Ryuko was coated in blood, but Satsuki would be next if she didn't stop then. I was afraid she'd overstep her limits.

She looked at her foe's still still-corpse, and she looked up to Satsuki's pillar out of camerashot. She kicked Nui's head&body off the pillar, muttered some inaudible curse, and started back across the pillar, her new dual weapons held tight.

She gestured one of the camera drones down with her weapons, and it flew down so she filled the screen. She smiled and held her hands up in the shape of a heart. Thankfully, I heard her this time.

"I love you too."

She walked off-screen.

'Take that. Fucking prissy biiitch.' I slurred again, standing up and turning to Inumata, but I had spun too fast. My head suddenly reeled with sickness, and the need to find a receptacle reached code red.

"Don't you fucking dare." he sputtered. The other two scattered.

I vomited straight on his lap.

* * *

I had sobered up by the time she got back home, and she laughed like she'd been holding it in.

"I could hear you the entire time, you know. I didn't even realize it the first few times."

'Gotta cheer for my girlfriend.' I said. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. 'Still, um. Why'd you…at the end. You looked up at Satsuki's pillar?'

"Uh, yeah." She scratched her still-red hair. "I - oh, wait - you couldn't see that, could you?"

'I just saw you curse for a second and start walking off.'

"Yeah." She frowned. "She fucking fled."

'She - what?'

"Yep. I noticed it when I was fighting Nui - but I didn't realize it until after. She fucking fled during that fight."

'…shit.' I muttered. We went over to the couch to talk. 'What happens now, then? Is she just going to keep running away?'

"Well - the way I figure, it confirms a few things. She was the one who sent Nui there. I mean, who would she even… You know what I mean?"

'She wouldn't ever let someone else barge in on her shit. Must've gotten scared.'

"Exactly." She nodded. "I mean, the only bigger bitch in town is Ragyo - but we'll end up killing her, too."

'You think she had something to do with it?'

"Her daughter - and her couturier. Right? Especially her couturier."

'…right.' I nodded. 'I think so, yeah. What are you thinking? In general.'

She grinned. "In general?"

'I mean like a - a narrative, I dunno.' I laughed. I might've been less sober than I thought.

"Nah, I get it." She laughed. "What I'm thinking is… Maybe Nui really was the one - or maybe she's just covering for Satsuki - but if she was going to cover, why wouldn't Satsuki deny it?"

'Deny killing your father, you mean?'

"Yeah. Not like it'd work, but - it'd make me doubt for a bit, at least."

'Probably tries to lord that fact over you - trying to taunt you about it.'

"Exactly." She nodded. "It doesn't matter much, anyway. Nui's dead. Next is Satsuki - then, Ragyo."

'Elite Four doesn't have their uniforms anymore, either.'

"They'll get them back. Sewing Club works pretty quick, right?"

'Yeah. Mine's in the washer. Haven't started it up yet, though.'

For some reason, there had been dried vomit on the chest.

"Good." She smiled. "Need to clean Senketsu, and -"

\- someone knocked at the door. I leaned up to see who it was; someone I knew was from Journalism Club, holding two pieces of paper.

"…careful." murmured Ryuko, and she opened the door.

"IwasaskedbyLadySatsukito -"

' - slow down.' I groaned, and he nodded.

"I. Was. Asked. By. Lady -"

" - speed up." groaned Ryuko, and he nodded.

"I was asked by Lady Satsuki to give a copy of this to Ryuko Matoi, and her dog. Where is her dog?"

She glanced towards me.

'Why are you looking at me like that?'

"Nothing." She grinned. "I'll make sure he gets it."

He nodded and handed Ryuko, and Ryuko's dog, the papers. Before we could respond, he had run away, leaving us sighing as we closed the door.

'Let's see what this is.' I muttered, looking down to see what that was. There was a map of Japan with three locations marked. Satsuki and the Elite Four's pictures were overhead and assigned to three locations, and there was bold text below.

"Tri-City Schools Raiding Field Trip." muttered Ryuko. "Club designations are as follows."

'Osaka Squadron. Tennis Club, Music Club, Electronics Club. Led by Inumata Houka and Nonon Jakazure.'

"Kyoto Squadron. Sewing Club. Boxing Club. Led by Sanageyama Uzu."

'Tokyo Squadron. Honors Club. Cultural Heritage Club. Led by… Ira Gamagoori and Satsuki Kiryuin.'

"Guess we're going to Tokyo." muttered Ryuko, and I nodded.

'Next Monday. Got the rest of the week to rest up and train for it.'

She slowly nodded. "…yeah."

We were nearing the end of it again. She got a look on her face like she wished she had more to say, but there really wasn't anything left to do besides that.

"…hey, um." She smiled. "I wanted to tell you something, too."

I nodded.

"When I was fighting Nui. I… I've never felt that angry before. Senketsu started yelling at me about… My blood. Boiling. Way too much adrenaline."

'That's understandable.'

She nodded. "It is, yeah, but… Senketsu said if I got too angry - he might've accidentally sucked all my blood out."

'He - what?'

"That's what he said - or that it'd start affecting his Life Fibers. But." She smiled wider. "I think you know what got me to calm down."

'…don't tell me.'

"That's why I stopped for a second. I started thinking about you - and Senketsu said I got much calmer. Focused, but calmer."

* * *

We trained every scenario we could in that last week. We both skipped class, as by then it wouldn't matter. I never understood why Satsuki didn't expel us already. Ryuko told me Senketsu had been speaking of 'full attunement' with her on the day before the day, but wasn't sure if she had reached it.

If my Two-Star could talk, I hope it would like me too. I knew there wasn't any way out of fighting Gamagoori. I was getting my wish after all.

We had our last dinner, with no electronics before bed.

"Gotta get our rest." she said, laying down. "Big day tomorrow."

'Yeah.' I said, laying down next to her. She pressed herself up so her head could be on my chest.

"…yeah." She nodded. I think she was still trying to reassure herself. "…she might. She might - if I lose, tomorrow. She'll kill both of us."

'Let's try not to lose, then.'

She laughed. She'd gotten enough of my dumbass comments over the past months that I wasn't sure if she was genuine, or laughed because it was me.

I had a new fear coming up in my mind then, though. I preferred it to the lethal one.

'…hey, uh.' I muttered. We had never really discussed it, and I was praying for her answer. 'We're - once you win. We'll… still be together, right?'

"Huh?"

She sat up and sent my heart racing.

'You're - n-not going to leave, right?'

"I - hey, no, no." She smiled. "I - I'm sorry. I - I guess we never talked about that. No, I'm not - I'm not going to leave. I-I never want to leave."

My question hit her harder than I intended. If I had to guess, I'd say that I had become the closest thing she had to family left.

"O-Outcast." She said this while her eyes were misty. "I-I don't ever want to leave you. I-I'm not going to ever leave you. O-Okay?"

I smiled and nodded, but something was really getting her bad.

"I-I - d-don't ever -" - she threw her arms around me and pressed hard against my chest. It almost knocked me out.

" - d-don't ever l-leave, o-okay?" her muffled voice said.

'I'm - I'm not, Ryuko. I'm not ever going to leave you.'

My hands felt her back. I saw Senketsu hanging from his nail and the black that covered our window. I saw our reflections, but she was still sobbing in to me. I was trying to think of the right words to make her pause and nod, but I couldn't find anything. How could I tell her it'd turn out alright when I couldn't guarantee my own safety?

I'd never wanted to kill Satsuki more than I did then.

_**[I really did warn you on the ultraviolence. Thankfully, given that Ryuko & Outcast have shown themselves to be mature and mentally stable individuals, this definitely bodes well for Satsuki.]**_


	6. Of Mice & Salarymen

We had breakfast the next morning. I let the news play in the background; it was already talking about the field trip, and Ryuko had planned a route that would take us the long way around to Tokyo.

'That's the school, then?' I said as she handed me her phone. A picture of Tokyo's academy was on it, a twenty-story tower emblazoned with NEEKO's logo, alongside their catgirl and underage mascot, NEEKO-chan. They were really making a push for the salaryman market then.

"Yeah. Bitch'll probably have it torn down by the time we get there." I could tell her anger was ready to come out any second. "Going to be a long drive. Two hours - more if we run in to anyone."

'Let's head out, then.'

She nodded. We kissed, and we stood. As we went outside, I pulled my hood over my headless head, and as my arms went taut, I felt the wrists start to crack where they shouldn't. 'I - fuck, what the fuck?'

Ryuko turned to me. I tried to flick my lower-right alight, but it wouldn't come. "What's up?"

'It's - my fucking arms, they're not -'

"- wait, what?" She panted. Being close to the end had her worried for any change. I flicked my lower-left, and the electricity came for only a second, like the spark was plugged. "Hey - hey, what's going on?"

'It's my - fucking extra arms, it must have - what the fuck? I can't even use them, I -'

" - wait. Wait, wait." She was breathing swift when she stepped over to me. "Stay - stay still. Senketsu - do you feel anything?"

She put her scissors to my lower-right arm and started mumbling louder for my benefit.

"It's - what is it? … Yeah, um." She looked at me. "You can't use them at all, right?"

'Feels like the - element is getting stuck halfway through.'

"Was it where Satsuki hit you? Bakuzan?"

'No - about my elbows. They - they were fine yesterday, but - not today.'

I felt like I was a patient. Thoughts of Ryuko in a nurse outfit started.

"… alright. I need to make an incision."

'Yes, Nurse Ryuko.'

She laughed and dipped her blades in my lower-right arm, making an incision to the fabric underneath.

"Of fucking course." She sighed. "Here, look."

I looked. Half of the top layer of Life Fibers had been cut in half and tied in to knots, like cables that were being set aside for later.

'Iori.' I sighed, and Ryuko nodded.

"Let me check your other one, too."

Nurse Ryuko made an incision to my lower-left arm, and we found the same occurrence. She started whispering to Senketsu again.

"Alright." she said after a pause. "I'm gonna give you a few of Senketsu's Life Fibers - enough to repair it."

'Will you be alright?'

"Senketsu says I've got a few spare, anyway." When she tapped her blades on my sabotage again, a few strands came out of them and repaired it. She did the same for my other arm. "Now, try it."

I tried it, and my lower-left went electrical, my lower-right flaming. I checked my chilly upper-right and windy upper-left. We grinned and nodded. I got on the back of her motorcycle, and we drove out the back way of the two-star district. The other club presidents had already gone off, and for a second, I thought about burning their houses down; but I figured we could do that once we left for good. I really was going to keep my 'most violent student' legacy.

We got out on to a highway, and Ryuko tuned the radio to hear the feed as she drove. Every time Satsuki's name rose, I felt her heels dig in to the pedals.

So did mine. My vision was ready to turn hot.

"… yeah." she muttered at the front. She was talking to Senketsu. "I know we can do it."

Her elbow nudged my stomach.

'Love you.' I whispered to her neck, and the wind blasted a fly against my shoulder.

"Love you too." She grinned. "Gonna kill that fucking bitch."

'Let me know if… you get too angry.'

"Yeah. I will. Still, um. Just wanna concentrate on driving."

'Sure.'

She turned the radio up, and the road filled with the announcer. Once we got an hour away, the play-by-play of Tokyo's raid started. Again, I wondered how the daughter of a company president being murdered would affect stock prices.

We were thirty minutes away from Tokyo's academy when we started hitting the barricades. They were set up around every street, and as we pulled past in to one avenue, street blocked ahead -

\- by a dozen students; my arms went full taut, electrical & fire ready to singe as Ryuko stopped thirty feet away. They formed a horizontal line, and Ryuko and I stepped off.

"You're not getting to Lady Satsuki." said one.

"I am." she grunted. "Or you're getting your fucking heads cut off."

"We're not scared of -"

\- I blinked, and their headless bodies collapsed.

"Let's fucking go!" she shouted, stomping back to the motorcycle, and even I got whipped to run back and get on. She started taking turns so quickly I worried we'd flip, and we hadn't run in to any more students by the time we got deeper in. Tokyo's academy was on the distance, demolished.

The avenue was filled with burning buildings, shattered roads and crumpled cars. On the distance, I saw what looked like a white & blue robot, two blue&black eyes burst out of the shoulders, a transparent mask for the lower half of -

' - that's what Junketsu looks like transformed?' I sputtered. I'd had my uniform made for intimidation -

**" - SURE FUCKING IS!"** shouted Ryuko so hard my headless eardrums might have cracked -

\- but Ryuko's anger swelled my own as she revved faster; a gust of wind erupted from my arm just in time to block the car thrown at us from behind -

**" - GET OFF - NOW!"** shouted Ryuko, and I heard the motorcycle's engine strain as I leaped off the back, a swift sheet of ice keeping me from rolling; I stood, and saw Gamagoori at the other end of the avenue, two hundred feet between us. His armor was gold&white now, and I wanted to stomp it red.

Behind, I heard Satsuki start yelling, and Ryuko's blades replying.

Ahead, Gamagoori's tendrils caught up a car and hurled it forward; as it flew -

\- three more appeared behind it, four projectiles seeking to crush me -

\- but a pillar of blue flame claimed my body, automobiles disintegrating as soon as they hit me; sweeping my wind-arm out, I caught one of the surviving doors and threw it back, gust of wind blasting it back -

\- but his own wind blew it back; as it flew, it shrunk to a microscopic size -

\- and the bizarre projectile entered my chest; I set my body instantly alight, hoping it was gone. I knew it must've been some attack -

\- but Gamagoori was still shocked (but not like that) on the other end.

"How - how the fuck did you repair that?" he said, and even then I couldn't help but laugh. I wanted to say something badass, but I was too focused to think of anything, trying to remember what Ryuko had fought against.

One tendril had wind, one shrunk objects; one might've swelled them. Another seemed to turn back time. I rushed right and to the sidewalk, keeping my charge careful as GamagooriI circled. One fire hydrant was still standing beside, and I kicked it open -

\- the geyser of water burst up, drenching the entire avenue; another geyser burst out of my fire&ice, electrical added in as the liquid hit Gamagoori across the street -

\- but the ground swelled to a pillar ahead, blocking my sudden assault, a hundred feet separating us. It shrunk again, and Gamagoori was dry, one tendril -

\- with a fucking white flame at the tip.

'You - you fucking copied my uniform?'

"What, did you think I wouldn't?" he laughed. "Fire and ice, something for electricity - Iori didn't have to add much."

'Fucking faggot.' I grunted. I don't know why I even said that word that much, but it felt appropriate. On the horizon, I saw three skyscrapers collapsing, and what looked like a red & black meteor shooting clear through another.

"Your girlfriend couldn't break through Scourge Regalia even with her uniform. Do you think your piddly Two-Star shit is going to do better?"

Again, I tried to think of a good quip.

'She left you alive for me.'

I started stomping forward. Gamagoori backed against the wall ahead, but whatever he had planned, Worldwide would counter it. Ryuko had strangled him with his own tentacles and threatened to castrate him, but I had one way to up it.

'I'm going to fucking kill you.'

In the next instant -

\- a tendril burst out of the ground left and gripped my fire-arm, covering itself in ice; fire unable to come yet, I felt another car shooting towards me right -

\- but an ice wall blocked it just before it hit me, minuscule projectile shrinking as it hit the barrier; another tendril burst out of the ground and tapped my ice wall, and before I could react -

\- a hundred jagged icicles swelled out of the ice to impale me -

\- but the next scene was instant. My wind's gusts shattered it to a thousand pieces; before he could touch it again, another gust blasted every last shard at Gamagoori -

\- his own wind blasted them back -

\- but a tornado of winds formed ahead, spinning and catching every last projectile; careful reflexes readied, I threw another gust in to the torrent -

\- and every last icicle shot underground, where I knew the rest of his ice tendril was buried; he screamed as his tendril staggered, unclenching its grip around my fire-arm

\- and I stomped on its tip with all my weight down before it could retreat, twisting and yanking at it like I was pulling a weed out, fire-hand burning as I dug my grip in deeper. More tendrils started shooting towards me overground -

\- but a dozen frozen spikes burst out of my uniform; they swept back, fire-hand still trying to dent the fucking thing. It was like trying to cut steel with nail clippers; one tendril shot towards me again, and as its white flame melted all my ice -

\- the next scene was instant. Sweeping my wind&ice to the buried ice tendril's ground, a dozen icicles shot out towards it; and I swept with the speed of sound back&away from the next seven tentacles seeking me, dropping the ice tendril as I backed away; it retreated back underground and to Gamagoori -

\- but I laughed as I saw the tunnel it'd left behind, and in the next instant -

\- a jet of water filled the entrance, and the geyser burst out at the exit behind Gamagoori; before he could react to the sudden drench -

\- an electrical current entered his body, tentacles twitching as I backed out of range, a hundred feet separating us still -

\- and another tendril swept across the ground, swelling the ground to seal the burrow shut. I'd landed some hits, but his grip had dug welts on my fire-arm, and he still had all eight swaying behind him. He backed against one building; a swift swipe of his tendrils cleared an entrance, and in to the hole he swept.

I had a time limit. He didn't, but I didn't trust myself in close range yet. I rushed over to one car right and readied to catch it up, but in the next instant -

\- a tendril burst out of the ground and shrunk it minuscule -

\- but a sweep of a frozen sword slashed it halfway through; it staggered back -

\- just in time for the return to slice it again; I had read a story online about a scarab-wielding woman who used weapons like that, and in my third swipe -

\- it shrunk my blade microscopic; but it was covered in water then, still wounded as my electrical fist surged -

\- and bashed right where its nose would've been; but in the next instant -

\- I felt another burst up right, and before I could react -

\- its wind blew me with the strength of a thousand left; as I flew, a second lashed my back blood spurting as I landed -

\- right in to another three, fire&ice seeking my neck -

\- but a swift spray of water turned the ground muddied underneath, lowering me just the inches I needed to dodge. Four arms met with two tendrils; and I had a better plan then.

A wall of ice burst up behind them; a hundred icicles burst out -

\- and trapped the two rabid beasts, shaking and thrashing as a third tendril unburrowed to shrink the ice -

\- and I laughed as its first tap failed, having layered the ice so it couldn't shrink in one go; but in the next instant -

\- my veins swelled; blood pressure doubling, I turned my clouding vision back, seeing the blood I'd left disappear as one tendril swiped at it-

\- but a swift internal flame disintegrated the excess blood in my veins, time-reversing tendril having given it back to me; temples pounding, I staggered forward, sidewalk&store ahead - but I had no time to rest.

I rushed up to the sidewalk, and to the hardware store beside where Gamagoori had fled. Another tendril burst up ahead of me -

\- but my gusts of wind sucked its own up, my elements fortunately stronger than his. Rushing up to the store's front doors, I burnt them down, sweeping inside and keeping my run going, shelves flanking me and another section peeling open to the left. I knew Gamagoori was in the next building.

Rushing left, I grabbed every propane tank I could off the shelves, and as I came to the final wall -

\- I threw one tank at it; an icy prison protected me as I set it alight -

\- and the explosion tore the wall to shreds, rubble and concrete shattering in its wake. Gamagoori was fifty feet ahead and in the next building, eight tentacles readied for my next move. Grabbing another tank, I hurled it forward towards him -

\- but a swift tendril shrunk it immediately; he laughed as it flew by -

" - you know you can't -"

\- but the next scene was instant. I'd cut a leak in it with my wind; fire-arm sweeping forward, a burning blue spray lit the gas fuse -

\- and set the entire next room & him alight; he shrieked as he staggered back, desperate ice tendril trying to extinguish him -

\- and too distracted to avoid the next propane projectile; another explosion erupted outward -

\- and the blast tore his ice tendril clear off his body. Staggering back again, I had my chance. I threw my last tank forward -

\- a ramp of ice formed mid-air, launching it in to the ceiling, spray of fire following to set it alight -

\- and the explosion tore the roof in half; the rain of rubble started to fall, foundation and concrete collapsing in on him and burying him alive -

\- but I sighed at the next instant scene. One of his tendrils swept up over him -

\- and expanded it to a fucking dome, tendrils brushing away the excess rubble, building destroyed but Gamagoori still standing in the ruins, fifty feet between us.

'I'm not the only one you copied.' I grunted, vision burning.

"It's a good ability." he said, blood that was his ice tendril's scattered on his face. "You're a lucky man, you know."

One chunk of rubble was on my left boot. I angled my wind arm carefully.

"I could feel it. She's got a good handful - "

\- a gust of my wind blasted the concrete chunk towards him; as it flew -

\- a pane of ice formed in midair; and another, and another, projectile sliding and reangling with the speed of light around -

\- and smashing right in to his skull; the pain staggered him back -

\- and two blades entered my back. I gasped and sputtered, vision turning back -

\- for the next instant scene, Ryuko rushing up behind Satsuki stabbing me in the back -

" - strands!" she shouted; a dozen strands shot to Satsuki's torso, yanking her with the strength of a million away -

\- and throwing her clear through one building -

\- and another -

\- and another -

\- and another -

\- and I saw a black&red streak chase after the disappearing white. Satsuki's blades flew after her, and a swift dose of cold chilled my wound as I backed away, Gamagoori having recovered ahead.

' - SHE CAN RECALL BAKUZAN!' I shouted, but Ryuko probably knew that.

We started staring down again. He'd lost his ice tendril; if I destroyed fire&wind, there wasn't much to stop him from burning up. I heard two burst up in the store behind -

\- but a swift sweep of fire collapsed the exit as I stepped out, leaving them in the rubble for now. The ground started to rumble below, and in the next instant -

\- it swelled to a pillar at my feet and launched me up -

\- but a platform of ice formed midair, keeping me safe as I started my charge forward, only twenty feet below and fifty feet ahead for Gamagoori. I'd kept it layered again, and laughed as I turned, seeing seven tendrils chasing after me; my electrical current entered the platform -

\- but a gust of white fire claimed the entire platform, melting it and throwing me feet-first down; a gust of his wind blasted me away from Gamagoori -

\- but a slide of ice formed midair, curving and yawning to set me to Gamagoori's line, his tendrils unable to come back in time -

\- before my burning boot smashed his skull in; grunting as I landed, I started my rush away and in to the next street, knowing I couldn't handle the full seven yet. I kept my run going on to the road, and as my vision turned -

\- three swelled chunks of concrete smashed my headless skull; I staggered back -

\- right in to a wall of asphalt. Fire-arm sweeping back, a burst of blue hit the barrier -

\- and disintegrated it as Gamagoori started rushing at me, but in the next instant -

\- the wall reformed; I knew the time-reversing tendril was there, and as I disintegrated the barrier again -

\- it reformed instantly; with no option left, I rushed along the wall and up the road, constant barriers swelling up at my right, and I knew more would sprout if I tried to turn left. My boots scraped deeper in the ground as I ran, minuscule flames carving a minor fissure below; I felt Gamagoori a hundred feet behind, and as I turned -

\- I saw all but two tendrils hurtling him along -

\- and the fissure I'd carved underneath for the next instant scene. Two jets of water filled the fissure, conductive streak connecting us as another electrical current entered the water -

\- and he twitched, staggered, but still stood as he rushed off of it. A wall burst up behind me, and I knew that tiresome time tentacle was still there. Sweeping my fire&ice back, a jet of water hit the dirt wall -

\- and turned it muddied, spraying dirt&liquid everywhere; I felt the time tentacle tap it back to normal -

\- but it was covered in water now; a swing of my ice arm froze it solid, and I didn't waste a second before disintegrating the barrier and rushing up the street again, no time to shatter the frozen tendril. I glanced back as I ran -

\- my favorite red&black streak appeared at the right end of the avenue -

\- and her charge smashed through the frozen tendril in the next, shattering it to a hundred pieces as I halted, knowing white&blue would be in pursuit. My vision turned right -

\- and an enormous icicle burst out of my chest to keep Satsuki off me; she grunted as she veered past, no desire to fight me as she pursued Ryuko left.

Six tendrils were down, but Gamagoori was still chasing me once my run started again. I had some ideas in my head on how to kill him, depending on which tendril was next. Wind & fire were my priority, but I couldn't plan much. A line of parked cars were to my right; as I passed by, four arms yanked one's fuel tank out, gasoline dripping as I kept my rush going, leaving a flammable streak behind.

Thinking I was smart, I turned after fifty feet like that. Gamagoori ran right in to the path, passing by the same car -

\- and I realized a second later why. One of his tendrils swept to the gasoline's streak, absorbing & catching the liquid; it swatted the gasoline towards me, and as the flammable drops flew at me -

\- his fire tendril set them alight -

\- and me with it a second later; the fuel tank exploded in my hands, screaming as I staggered back. I set my fire&ice to spray water above me -

\- but felt with aghast senses no water coming; I felt another tendril by me, shrinking every droplet it could, fire tendril joining it to keep me burning -

\- but a swing of my wind-arm sucked the oxygen from the flames, snuffing it out as I staggered back past another car; few options left, a gust of wind blasted it towards Gamagoori -

\- but his own threw it back; a gust of wind erupted from my palm -

\- and I cursed as his own wind blasted it back to him; my timing had been off, and before I could gust again -

\- the two-ton projectile smashed me torso-first and threw me to the ground; out of my vision's corners, I saw the fire tendril ready to set it all alight again -

\- but the next scene was instant. Sharp winds erupting from my arm, my gusts tore the car to a thousand pieces and threw the shards out -

\- and the electrified pieces burst right through the fire tendril; grunting as I stood again, I smelled the gasoline now on it before it did -

\- and it set itself accidentally alight. Beside it, the wind tendril burst out of the ground to douse it -

\- but only in time for my wind-arm to suck the oxygen from the air, leaving only one streak of midair fuel between the two -

\- and setting both alight. Two flaming tendrils before me now, I gripped the fire tentacle as hard as I could, stomping on its base to keep it from fleeing. _(I figured it was more resistant to fire, if not immune, having just survived being burned alive.)_

Grunting and tearing, twenty fingers gripped it tight, and as a man might twist a screw -

\- I ripped it clear off; blood & Life Fibers sprayed me as it fell rigid, and as I turned to see the wind tendril burnt up -

\- a bizarre scene met my stare. Another tendril was beside it, neither on fire. A gigantic pool of blood that wasn't mine was on the ground; without thinking, a bolt of lightning hit the current -

\- but another tendril shrunk the conductive pool again. I started backing away, changing my course to the middle of the road, stepping backwards in to what was an intersection an hour ago. The rest would arrive soon if we didn't finish quick. _(My best theory on why the wind tendril wasn't burning was he had swollen some blood to extinguish it.)_

I heard Satsuki screaming in agony, or what I hoped was her, and in the next instant -

\- the ground shrunk & tumbled at my feet -

\- but a platform of ice kept me steady. My boots burst in to flames, just to protect me from any swollen icicles. Fire&ice worked together to keep the platform from melting. He was desperate, but I still wanted to get rid of more tendrils before I'd charge.

Every building to my left started collapsing. They were fighting there again, so I kept my ears open for Ryuko's warning. I heard one tentacle burst up behind me; I turned -

\- and it swatted a cloud of dirt in my vision; eyes clenching shut, another tendril slashed open my back -

\- but a jet of electrified water burst out of my wound, keeping it away; the shrinker wouldn't let a drop land, but it bought me time to stagger to another car -

\- and I ripped the driverside door out, same tentacle shooting for me again as I turned; a swift bash staggered it back -

\- and the next scene was instant. I threw the door to where I knew the rest of it was buried, icicles bursting out as it cut in to the road -

\- and piercing right through the fucking thing underground, layers of ice to buy the door time to stick deeper in. I saw stores at my left&right. The shrink set to work ahead on the road; two tentacles tried to yank me back, and as I started to thrash -

\- my whole body went electrical; their grip slipping, a gust of wind blasted me with the strength of a thousand left -

\- but I let it this time, burning body disintegrating right through the doors and in to another store, much smaller than the last. Rising to my feet charging, I rushed up to the back wall and glanced for anything I could use, but only found snacks & cigarettes.

My vision turned for the next instant scene. The shrink tendril burst out of the ceiling, cracks starting to form in the tiles and whole roof starting to collapse -

\- but my fire&wind burst one quick geyser of water, spraying the entire roof and freezing it solid -

\- and forming a new frozen roof; one that kept the shrink tendril trapped in there with me. A fireball erupted from my fire-arm towards it -

\- and hit it tip-on, and in the next instant -

\- the floor shattered up ahead; out of the aperture burst the wind tendril. I rushed up to it midway, and before it could realize it was doomed -

\- another wall of ice blocked & locked the store's entrance, enormous prison of ice claiming the entire building and floor, two trapped in there with me, and in the next instant -

\- a spray of blue flame hit the shelf ahead -

\- and the entire room burst in to flames, smoke gagging my sight as it filled the store. More tendrils were knocking at the front doors, but my ice arm kept it reinforced; above, the shrink tendril was thrashing and twitching, trying to touch its prison; ahead, the wind tendril was thrashing around, trying to burrow back underground.

I couldn't see them, but I stomped and smashed my boots against the frozen floor, sending shards scattering anywhere I could in that black. My body & vision was burning; bolts of lightning burst out of my electrical arm and entered the floor, and my arms were starting to crack; but I couldn't rest. More icicles shoved out of the ground, piercing through what I thought were tendrils, and as I rushed in the smoke to grip one up -

\- I felt the familiar durability; it started instantly to thrash against me, and four arms dug as hard as it could in to that fucking uniform. My burning fist smashed it, my icicle cleats stomped it, my electrical arm paralyzed it, and my wind arm gripped its tip. I twisted and twisted it, all my weight stomping it down; four arms started to crack as I ripped at it, both it & my Life Fibers stretching to their limit as I -

\- tore it clear off; another dozen sharp winds shredded it to bits, and I felt something dead drop to me beside. Wind arm sweeping, it sucked up all the smoke around -

\- and the frozen front doors shattered just then; Gamagoori with two less tendrils, staggering away, Life Fibers bursting out of his uniform. Fifty feet separated us as I started my final charge forward; the wind & shrink were dead, and he only had three left as he rushed across the road, on to the sidewalk ahead.

With no time to waste, I rushed out of the store and to the sidewalk; more walls of asphalt swelled up to stop me, but a puff of blue disintegrated each one. I heard the building collapse as I got out to the road, and in the next instant -

\- I swept underneath Satsuki's blades as she ran past me, rushing up to Gamagoori, her back full of holes -

**" - DO YOU HAVE YOUR FUCKING SWELL TENDRIL?! HEAL ME!"** she shouted, and in the next instant -

\- one of Ryuko's blades passed by me; my fire-arm turned it blue -

\- and the burning blue sliced through nearly all of Gamagoori's right arm; Satsuki ripped it out as he staggered back -

" - strands!" shouted her voice to my left; and her strands ripped her blade back to her. Satsuki starting rushing off to the left, and I felt her clash with Ryuko again as Gamagoori's tendril tapped his stump -

\- and swelled his remaining flesh to reattach it; but I knew he wasn't lasting then. Some noise started up in the distance, but the mist in my headless eyes wasn't dissipating until he was dead; I cleared the clearing, and as he staggered back against the wall -

\- four fists smashed his stomach, and he folded like a jackknife; I gripped his normal arms and threw them in to the concrete, and in the next instant -

\- a swelled pillar burst up at my feet -

\- but my flaming boots stomped disintegrated it down, and as I fell level again -

\- my icicled cleats impaled his boots to the ground; four grips shot to his face as I kept stomping with worst intentions, slashing his legs and cutting through flesh, bone, muscle and whatever else that monster had in him. His three tendrils and two arms were staggering for me then, but they couldn't stop me then; I smashed his face against the wall -

\- and bits of concrete poked out right where they should've; by that time, he was thrashing and trying to get away, but my wind arm was on his mouth -

\- and sucked every drop of oxygen he had out, just for one last scream that might've been a "Satsuki"; three arms gripped his neck, and I scraped the wall with his face -

\- and kneed his skull so hard his head smashed through the wall.

I gripped him back up and slammed him in to the ground behind me, and I finally stomped his face in like I had wanted. His skull went red, and he was howling with the fury of a god dethroned, but my laugh was louder. I started hearing Ryuko laugh, up right the road. The sight of his eyes hanging out their sockets either amused her, or Satsuki had started to hesitate.

"That's right - and you're fucking next."

I gave the dog a last good kick and turned away to watch Satsuki & Ryuko. I didn't want to interfere unless absolutely necessary. Satsuki would have no issue accidentally killing me - Ryuko would. I saw something that almost looked like fear in Satsuki's expression when she saw Gamagoori's corpse.

Both Ryuko & Satsuki were dripping blood and Life Fibers; Senketsu & Junketsu's eyes were gashed, pools dripping out of each; but Ryuko clearly had the advantage. The holes in Satsuki's back were starting to tear open again as they clashed, and the sound I'd heard earlier started getting closer -

\- and I realized then what it was. I turned -

\- and saw the Elite Four (now Three)'s helicopter approaching on the sky. The black speck was growing wider; I couldn't hold three of them off, and Ryuko needed her full focus on Satsuki. My brain started working at the speed of light -

' - RYUKO! THE REST ARE - WE NEED TO GO, NOW!' I shouted; the two had already slashed through another four buildings ahead, still fighting in a decimated avenue -

" - NO!" shouted Satsuki, dual blades meeting Ryuko's - " - STAY - STAY SO THAT THEY CAN FUCKING - KILL BOTH OF YOU!"

"OUTCAST - MOTORCYCLE!" shouted Ryuko, and I started running as fast as I could to where I thought it was, one of the avenues I'd fought out of, trusting that Ryuko would stave Satsuki off me. My boots crunched on shattered buildings as the helicopter's spinning blades filled my ears, hurtling over destroyed roads.

I rushed over one destroyed building -

\- and sighed relief to find it safe & toppled at the other end; sheets of ice formed underneath as I skid&slid -

\- and a frozen wall burst up behind to block Nonon's missiles, metal from her speakers starting again; I didn't even feel the distance between us as I rushed up to the motorcycle. _(Thankfully, Ryuko had left the keys in.)_

I panted like a true hog as I got on, peeling it right and down another road; Nonon's missiles kept blasting every shield of ice I built, and I knew the two men had leaped down to rush towards me. I followed back the screaming until I came in to another avenue, Ryuko&Satsuki still clashing on the other end -

" - strands!" shouted Ryuko; a strand erupted from her back and yanked her in to the next avenue, webs bursting out of her chest to try to tangle Satsuki's pursuit, Nonon's laser sweeping with the speed of literal light in her path. I couldn't stop driving; she kept yanking to keep up with my pace, but they were starting to gain on me -

\- and like a true dog, I veered in to the next avenue before she landed there; she looked at me like I had killed her when I pulled up to her -

" - WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU -"

\- I yanked her to me as Satsuki's blade sought my neck -

\- and disintegrated the ground below; in to the sudden burrow we fell, missiles&blade catching only air as we went underground, revving as fast as I could away, fire arm disintegrating a path and ice keeping my mining&road supported. Ryuko shot a web back to close the tunnel as blue flames buried us further down, and another fiery tuft collapsed the tunnel behind us.

After a minute like that, the fire was our only light, and Nonon's shockwaves started to fade.

"God fucking - FUCK!" shouted Ryuko so loud it echoed. "OF COURSE THIS - FUCKING HAPPENS! Let me - get off the fucking motorcycle so I can -"

' - can - can you not yell at me?' I winced -

" - just get off the fucking motorcycle, I swear to fucking god, right fucking now - I need to fucking -"

' - p-please.'

I think she knew what my eyes were like from just my voice, because she paused. Just her tone had stabbed a few wounds and peeled open old ones, and I didn't know why I was stupid enough to get bothered by that; just like I had been in our first few months together, when every new thing she learned about me would scare me, because I didn't know if there was one that'd make her decide that I wasn't a good boyfriend.

I felt the motorcycle slow down and me sitting on the back.

"…Kyoto. Sewing Club. Okay?" she said, and she turned back to me. "O-Okay?"

'O-Okay.' I muttered. Once she gestured for me to burn up, we came out to the ground off a highway. She didn't say anything once we got on the road again, and my spirit sank in to the dirt&blood-covered seat.

She probably thought I was pathetic for starting to cry or thought not killing Satsuki was my fault. Killing Gamagoori had shattered fantasy and reality like breaking a picture's frame and climbing right in to it. Maybe some of the nerves that were supposed to be guilt were all tuned for Ryuko now, but I was still thinking of sobbing over something so stupid even when we had more to do.

"…O-Outcast." she sniffled a few minutes later. "I-I'm… s-sorry I yelled at you."

'…i-it's alright.' I mumbled, but her hand came back to tap me.

"…it's not." she muttered. "Y-You know how I'm feeling - right now. I-I'm not mad at you."

'I'm - not mad at you, either.'

She looked back and tried to smile, but it didn't get full until mine was there too.

"… I-I know. We need to - we need to get to Kyoto, if… Before they get there."

'For - Iori?' I said.

She nodded. "Yeah. Need to… Three-Star. For you."

'Good. Yeah.' I nodded.

"…lemme check." she muttered, tuning the radio up. Kyoto's raid was nearly over, but unlike Tokyo, they didn't have Satsuki and no longer had the Elite Three to help them. Ryuko broke every speed limit on the roads over, and for the next hour we filled up on gas so quickly people thought we were criminals; which I guess we were.

We both calmed by the time we got to Kyoto, but didn't have our next plan yet. The fighting was rumbling down as we pulled in to one avenue -

\- and Iori's shock whitened his face when he saw us fifty feet away; Ryuko drove up, and he started shouting for his club members to come help, but as we passed by -

\- I gripped him right to me, hostage still screaming as Ryuko took a U-turn so sharp we nearly flipped, revving and screeching back the way we'd came -

" - oh god nonono - w-what do you want?!" panted my cargo -

' - a Three-Star -'

" - no." said Ryuko. "Better idea. How did you make Junketsu?"

"I-I-I - d-did not m-make Junketsu." he panted, about to cry. "P-Please don't kill me, p-please -"

' - you what?'

"Who made Junketsu?" said Ryuko. I saw the dial read nearly 200kmh.

"I-I-I - don't know, b-but - I can - I can make you a Three-Star, a-anything you want! Maybe it was - N-Nui, I assume -"

" - if you're lying, Outcast will fucking throw you in to oncoming traffic."

_(I started worrying about losing my "most violent student" award to Ryuko, but I was willing to share.)_

"I-I'm not - I-I'm not lying, p-please -"

' - where do you need to go?' I sighed. 'To sew?'

"M-My h-home, m-my house in the t-two-star district -"

" - great." groaned Ryuko. "Another fucking drive -"

' - could we go underground?' I said, and she nodded, slowing down and turning in Honnōji's direction.

"Go."

A spray of blue flame disintegrated the ground below, and she drove with no interruptions and a clear line. A few times my spray accidentally hit her face, but she was strong enough now that it only left a few scars. The feed mentioned Satsuki had arrived in Kyoto, so I assumed the story was either fake, or she knew what was coming next for me. At our pace, Ryuko would outspeed the helicopter and Nonon.

Iori stayed silent for the rest of the ride, and I tried my best to check our location on my phone, until -

' - now!' I shouted; a spray of blue flame hit the ceiling -

\- and we burst out of the burrow right outside the no-star district. I started to wonder what would happen to the roads we had passed under once my supporting ice melted, and Ryuko started driving through the district. Thankfully, we passed the gates. It didn't seem like anyone knew about Gamagoori's death yet.

Iori's house was a few streets off of our's. Ryuko told me to get our bag while she watched over his sewing. As I stepped in to our bedroom, I scooped our luggage up, and in the next instant -

\- an explosion tore through the other half of our home; I shot immediately up, slinging the bag over my shoulder and rushing to the left wall -

\- another explosion hit the rubble -

\- but a sweep of burning blue went through the left wall; and out of the sudden exit I swept, rushing over and in to someone else's backyard, sidewalk road up ahead -

\- and Nonon's fucking battleship behind. More screaming filled my ears as I ran out to the road, and I knew the three were chasing me out of the rubble -

\- but a wall of ice formed to block their path; it wouldn't hold them long, but I started my frozen sliding then, rushing as fast as I could to Iori's house. Ryuko was already at the front door, holding a new uniform with six arms -

" - change!" she shouted as I ran up; with no time to waste, I rushed inside, Senketsu webs blocking our pursuers as I came in to the living room -

\- and to a dead Iori on the ground, leaving me with no spectators as I changed. My new six arms went taut, new strength and swiftness flowing in to me as Ryuko rushed inside to me -

" - no-star district," she panted, " - motorcycle shop -"

\- I nodded as we rushed out of the living room and to another hall, running up to another back wall. A puff of purple flame disintegrated our exit; we rushed out to another backyard again, and I felt the three entering the home behind us -

\- and a wall of ice blocked their path again as we kept our constant fleeing. I'd expected to hear it shatter any second, but as it turned, it was still just cracking, new ice stronger than the last as we hit the sidewalk -

' - Worldwide!' I shouted, palm sweeping back -

\- a spray of purple flame hit the grass behind -

\- and set the entire lawn ablaze, covering our retreat as we kept our rush going -

" - jeez -" she laughed - " - someone's gonna lose their house, now -"

' - do you know who - the guy in Boxing Club who tried to ask you out?' I shouted, and she laughed thinking I was joking.

"We - we have to run, jeez -" she laughed, still keeping our rush going down the road, houses turning in to stores ahead. I heard doors starting to burst open behind, and as I turned -

\- a pillar of purple flame disintegrated someone's bullets; I sprayed back, and a wall of deep purple separated the club presidents from us.

We veered left and to the sidewalk, constant spray of purple setting every lawn&house we passed alight, constant explosions screaming, Senketsu's tendrils swatting away Nonon's missiles right. A few had been unlucky enough to have parked their cars in their driveways, but in the next instant -

\- a hailstorm of icicles formed above; Ryuko stomped -

\- and a tendril threw a car to meet the frozen rain, swallowing every last projectile as we kept our eternal rush. Nonon's ship kept pace with us right, but her missiles couldn't break the tentacles now. Bolts of lightning struck both of us, even though we were immune.

The left wall of purple flame was keeping us safe, but as we ran past a corner -

\- Satsuki burst out of the wall -

\- and I stumbled back just in time for her swipe to amputate my six arm -

' - not again!' I sputtered, relevantly; she rushed back at me -

\- but a dozen strands burst out of the ground and smashed her down; and the next scene was instant. A pillar of purple flame claimed her body, disintegrating the ground underneath -

\- and in to the sudden burrow she fell, buying us time to keep our rush going again, two-star gates finally five hundred feet ahead, one last home left, Ryuko's strands yanking my sixth arm back to me. _(I still didn't know why I had two extra, but I couldn't ask.)_

" - fuck." she groaned, dozens of club presidents gathered at the gates, ready to block our path - " - Outcast - burrow, I need to - we'll meet up -"

\- with no time to waste, a pillar of purple flame started my burrowing, and I heard Ryuko grunting above as I ran underground. I didn't know what she had planned, but as I passed under what I thought was the two-star gates, I thought I heard a 'is that a fucking house' followed by, what I assumed, was the fucking house hitting thirty people.

My new arms brought me to where I thought the no-star district was; a geyser of water launched me out of the burrow -

\- to land right in the middle of a no-star street. A pillar of ice brought me higher up, and my vision searched for the motorcycle shop, still seeing Nonon's battleship in the two-star.

My vision found it quick, and ran even quicker there; I rushed up to the barbed wire fence and burnt it down -

\- to find Ryuko on a motorcycle grinning at me.

'I - how did you -'

" - get on." she laughed, and I rushed to be the steroidal toddler on the back. She shoved her finger in the ignition, Senketsu reforming for a key -

" - got it!"

\- I got one hand tight around her, and we drove out of the district.

**[Boy, that escalated quickly!]**


	7. The Joy

We were on the run for the next month. Satsuki had locked down Honnōji while the police searched for us, and our faces were on every diner's television for a while. I thought it was odd my parents never tried to call me, but with my allowance gone, we ended up stealing whatever we could. Senketsu had donated some strands to reattach my sixth arm, and I had two new elements. Ryuko told me Iori had intended "explosive and earth".

Every now and then, we'd pass someone on the street, and they'd look like they recognized us; but they'd just nod and go on their way. I couldn't tell if they were scared or thankful. REVOCS' stock prices went up with the murder, so I assumed they would skyrocket once Satsuki was dead too. I wondered if any other companies would ask us for the same service.

"Might need to get food soon." she muttered as we walked down a sidewalk in Kofu. She was wearing one of my old jackets to hide Senketsu.

'Yeah.' I wrapped my arm around her and she smiled. 'You want to, uh - same restaurant as last night?'

She grinned, pointing up to a building that looked like a castle's front half. "Could get some room service."

'Probably be pretty expensive.' I muttered, and she laughed.

"C'mon. Can just rob someone anyway, right?"

Her grin still had mind control. I nodded as we went up to the love hotel. There weren't any front doors or windows, but we went around the back and found doors & a vacuum tube. Ryuko slid ten thousand inside the tube, and after it got sucked up, they sent a key down.

"Room 631." she chimed, unlocking the elevator. We went inside and it took us to room 631.

Pink lights filled my eyes as we walked inside, scented sheets on the bed right and a hallway left. She muttered to Senketsu as she went down the hall, but pointed me back to bed when I tried to follow.

My lower half revved up as I got undressed. She went through one of the doors and came out nude a few seconds after.

'Guess it's appropriate.' I grinned, and she nodded as she pushed me down.

"Mmm… yeah. Haven't had it in a while."

She pressed me in to the bed and put her thighs around my head. Once she was warmed up, she sat on my lap, and even if the walls were soundproof, we probably made too much noise for Senketsu not to hear my name a few times. I'd like to say we had sex the entire night, but since we hadn't had it in a while, our orgasms came pretty quickly.

After, we cuddled under the blanket and watched television.

"…jeez." She grinned and tapped my chest. "Still cum pretty quick, you know."

'So do you.' I said, and she laughed.

"Yeah. Helps when I've got a boyfriend with such a big, um…" Her fingers went down. "…real big."

'Real big.'

My upper head started to swell. I had read that the Greeks used to think a big penis meant you were a violent oaf, which I guess I was living proof of. She laughed and sat up, then tapped the chute&tray that was attached to the wall.

"Still pretty hungry, though."

'Could go again.' I said, placing my hands on her breasts.

"After."

I really was living the dream. She tapped a few buttons on the chute, and a menu popped out. While I read it, she went back for Senketsu, and I was dressed by the time she got back.

"Anything good?" she said as she sat next to me.

'You know, they do have takoyaki here.'

"Maybe." she grinned. "Might be the same guy making it, too."

'Yeah, somehow.' I laughed. 'Still. All pretty overpriced, but - has some Western food. Pizza and burgers.'

"Sounds good." she said, peeking over. "Let's, uh… Two half-pound burgers sound good?"

'Sounds good.' I repeated and put the code in. She laid her head on me while we watched TV, and we laughed at our faces on the news.

"When did -" she laughed, pointing like I couldn't see it - " - when did you have hair like that?"

'That's gotta be - that's my junior year photo -' I laughed, and she started cackling -

" - Senketsu said you looked like a metal artist -"

\- and I laughed at the joke I couldn't hear. Our food eventually came, and even if it was overpriced, my mind tried to fill in the blanks to make it a good deal. After, we ordered ice cream with chocolate hearts in them.

"Jeez." she laughed as she picked one out. "Real romantic."

'That's why it costs a thousand yen.'

One of REVOCS' commercials started playing. It was showing footage of the raids last month, and we laughed when the Tokyo footage cut out after a motorcycle's engine became audible.

"Still has that stupid 'in memoriam' on there, too."

'Gotta get the sympathy yen.' We laughed, relevantly. 'Four, five more left.'

"Five more, yeah."

We finished up our ice cream. More REVOCS commercials followed, as they had bought a few stations recently. They were nearly at full market share according to the bar at the bottom.

'…98%.' I sighed.

They had finished rolling out uniforms for military armed police. They had already destroyed the anti-monopoly laws & their competition, via lobbying for heightened safety standards with fines only they were rich enough to pay. I started fearing Satsuki or Ragyo becoming a power in every country. Would we always be fleeing? I could handle two by myself and maybe three; but we still needed Ragyo, too.

"…yeah." she muttered. "Once we - kill Satsuki and the others, whoever's left in charge of REVOCS isn't going to care about us."

I nodded and clung to that. Even some police officers had passed us by, and we had seen a women's magazine featuring us the day before; so I guess Ryuko wasn't my only fan.

'Yeah. Just gotta deal with them.'

She nodded and sent our bowls of ice cream back up. She smiled as the commercials ended and Godzilla Raids Again started.

"…Outcast."

I turned the volume down. 'Yes?'

"I… just thinking, about…" Her smile filled her face. "…I really love you. You've really - I don't know if I could've gotten this far without you."

'We're in this together.'

She laughed at my cliché. "Yeah - because you thought I was hot -"

' - I mean, I still do -' - we laughed -

" - yeah, but still." She grinned. "Pretty big risk just because you think I'm hot."

'I guess so.' I laughed.

For a second, a fantasy filled my two heads. Her next line could be "I don't know how I could ever thank you", and I'd tell her to get on her knees and -

\- guilt finished that thought. Something about seeing sex with Ryuko like that filled me up with disgust.

I was an eighteen year-old guy still, but someday I'd be nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-one. Would I still be running with Ryuko then? Would our relationship still be as close as now, or would we be sleeping in separate beds in the same overpriced hotels?

The thought clenched my chest, and I let it that time.

'… I really love you.'

"I really love you too. Feeling okay?"

'…yeah.' I nodded and smiled. 'Just - yeah. What are we gonna do next?'

She nodded and sat back up. "Honnōji's Cultural Arts Festival is still in a few weeks, right? Might be our best option, but…"

We sighed.

'…yeah. Ragyo. Satsuki - everyone. Club presidents, too.'

She nodded. "Yeah. Still, though - like I said. If we get rid of Satsuki, Ragyo, and uh, the Elite - Three - then they won't bother. Probably just came after us to kiss her ass."

She paused, and I realized she had some fear too.

"Right?"

'Right.' I nodded twice. 'That's how they always were around her, anyway.' My head shook. 'Doesn't matter. Just gotta kill them. If they're with Satsuki - they're against us.'

"Yeah." She grinned. "Exactly. Can still absorb a few more uniforms, too."

'And I've got my new arms.'

Our smiles widened. Our souls were hardening, and whatever we'd bring to the next five would be much worse than Gamagoori. She laid on my chest, and we watched monster movies for the rest of the night.

* * *

We stayed in the love hotel for the next few weeks. Every few days, one of us would go out and mug someone for money, and the food was better when it wasn't on our yen; even if their fried octopus wasn't as good.

Three days before Cultural Arts Festival, we had decided to attend; and I had pulled a young woman in to an alley. One arm went to her mouth -

' - not going to kill you.' I muttered, and my electricity knocked her unconscious.

I sat her down and started going through her purse. Ryuko wanted to try the most expensive dish before we left; a chocolate-covered fruit platter with an edible plate. There were probably cameras that knew we were hiding there, but I figured they wouldn't report us unless we stopped paying.

My headless ears kept watch. I had gone in to one of Kofu's better districts, and the night was reduced to thin yellow bricks peering out of store windows. Once I finished taking half of her money, I started to walk out of the alley; but something stopped me.

If someone else came across her, it could've been worse than a robbery. I texted Ryuko.

_(Outcast) "going to be a bit late tonight, about a half-hour."_

_(Ryuko) "you sure? ;)"_

She sent a picture without Senketsu. My upper half immediately threw thoughts of Ryuko dripping in chocolate to my lower, and my legs almost got pulled home. I felt like an idiot for deciding to wait, but she understood after I explained.

I went to the other side of the street to wait, and after five minutes like that -

\- screams filled the streets, and I turned my eyes up -

\- six arms went instantly taut, meteors raining down on the sky and shooting right towards me -

' - Worldwide!' I shouted, new explosive arm sweeping -

\- and a dozen explosions tore the dozen meteors in half, shards blasted outward, hurricane clouds & icicles forming above; a rain of what felt like a million icicles fell towards me -

\- but pillars of purple flame disintegrated every last as I rushed up the street, intersection ahead. I knew I had to find Ryuko first, dripping in chocolate or not. More meteors started raining down -

\- and smashed every building around me; I heard the woman I'd saved torn to shreds, meteors raining and blasting chunks of buildings towards me -

\- but two walls of purple flame formed a hallway as I kept my rush going. I knew my way back to the love hotel, and hoped Ryuko had been able to wear Senketsu in time, but in the next instant -

\- an earthquake rumbled at my feet, fissures cracking through the roads ahead -

\- and tornado gusts erupting out of them, extinguishing my purple walls as more rubble shot towards me from the sides -

\- but the next scene was instant. I stomped down; two walls of stone burst up from the road -

\- and in to the sudden barrier smashed the projectiles, lines of ice repairing the fissures as I kept my run going. I'd be taking a left soon. All around me were earthquakes, meteors, tornadoes sprouting and throwing stores&houses off their hinges, headless ears filling with screams.

I took a wide berth as I turned the corner -

\- and groaned to find the avenue full of tornadoes; rain flooding the road ahead, sudden water rushing and filling the streets. Twenty waves shot out of the water; sudden counter too quick, I got swept right in to the current -

\- and even being just a hundred feet from the tornadoes kept my fire unable to come, currents rushing to throw me in. I got annoyed that Sanageyama's uniform might've been stronger than mine; but I had better brute strength. Six arms paddling & two legs kicking, I swam up the current and in to one tornado -

\- it grabbed me and ripped me through the air, spinning and spinning around -

\- but I had my information then. They were spinning clockwise; a counterclockwise wind erupted from my palm -

\- and the tornado threw me in to another street as it dispersed behind; grunting as I landed, I rose to my feet charging. More meteors slaughtered every building. More tornadoes grew beside me, but I had their counter then; counterclockwise gusts dispersed them.

I ran through new avenues, and a few times I had to double-back, checking my directions off crumpled streetsigns. I didn't understand why Sanageyama was destroying the city with us; even REVOCS couldn't spin killing civilians as good PR. Only governments could do that.

Rushing in to another avenue, I was only five minutes away from the love hotel. My phone vibrated - I took it quick -

\- and got through a _"I'm at"_ before a lightning bolt blasted through my phone; but in the next instant -

\- I heard the road in the next street rumble. My vision turned -

\- and saw six enormous boulders smash through the buildings, rolling with the speed of figure of speeches towards me -

\- but six jets of water burst out of me, hoping to slice them in half -

\- but they froze in midair; air's temperature suddenly dropping, all six shot towards me -

\- to a swift wind that froze each in their tracks, taking advantage of the renewed chill. Rushing up to one, my ice arm tapped it and turned it completely to ice, a new ability for my three stars. I froze each one worse than solid, but in the next instant -

\- a hundred meteors appeared above; I didn't trust my fire in that chill, so as the entire rain fell upon me -

\- six explosions threw six boulders up -

\- and in to my projectiles went his, smashing and shattering as I ran up the road, more buildings being demolished in their wake. We had to find Sanageyama; if we destroyed enough buildings on our own, we could find him eventually. After a minute of running and four of sliding on ice, I pulled in to one avenue -

\- and saw where I knew the love hotel was, five hundred feet ahead&right, tornadoes all centered on it and shrouding it. With no time to waste, I rushed up the road, ran in to it, and as their clockwise winds swallowed me -

\- counterclockwise winds dispersed every last -

\- and Ryuko was standing in the middle of the ruins, Senketsu's tendrils out of her gloves burrowed in to the ground; I landed headless-head first beside her, and even she laughed as I staggered up. Senketsu's eye was gashed, as usual.

"Give me a minute." She winced. "Had to burrow pretty deep to keep from getting sucked in."

I felt the ground rumble as I came up close, heavy weather continuing all around. Some buildings were still left across the street, and in the next instant -

\- tornado winds blasted them off their hinges towards us -

\- I gripped Ryuko tight to me, purple flame claiming us and shared elemental resistance -

\- and we grunted, thrashed, but still stood at the end, purple flame disintegrating the buildings as they flew past.

"Just like what I did to the club presidents." she chimed, relevantly, and yanked Senketsu's tendrils out of their mile-deep burrows.

'I was wondering about that.' I laughed as we rushed out to the road. The temperature started to drop again; icicles formed on all the rubble ahead. Panting with visible breath, I staggered back -

\- and fire within kept me heated, Ryuko re-configuring Senketsu for warmth, subzero air filling the street.

'My - fire, I gotta keep it focused on -'

" - heating yourself, right." she nodded, dual blades drawn as we started up again - " - any idea where he is?"

'Haven't - seen anything.' I winced, daring not use my ice-arm in that air. We started our search again, but new rain clouds formed above; and as the drench started to pour -

" - here!" she shouted, shoving an umbrella to my sixth hand -

\- and the material absorbed every last drop, explosions blasting the water in to it, keeping us safe as we kept our rush going, heavy weather revving up; but we had our counters then. Ryuko's blades sliced meteors at the speed of light, Senketsu's tendrils threw boulders ten miles away, and my wind dispersed every tornado we ran in to. Every now and then, she'd shout for me to aim the umbrella back, and a geyser of water would burst out and freeze mid-air.

We searched for ten minutes before the drought started. The temperature rapidly rose, subzero to a hundred in an instant -

\- and my fire&ice swapped, internal ice keeping me safe; Ryuko reconfigured Senketsu, but our faces were both starting to parch -

\- I set my fire&ice for water on our skin, keeping us hydrated&safe as we rushed in to another avenue -

\- and saw one three-floor building still standing, three hundred feet right with no time to waste, we started rushing towards it.

'Let me -' - I panted as we ran - ' - across the street -'

\- my new ground-arm gestured to her, and she nodded as we rushed to the sidewalk across, building ahead. I stomped -

\- and a fissure ran through the ground ahead, swallowing road sidewalk in its wake as it hit the building -

\- and split it clear in two, rubble collapsing in separate directions a second later -

\- and revealing four men standing within, three with revolvers, one with a Japanese cloak already running away. A gust of wind blasted him away, path of clouds forming as he fled -

\- and one of the three men's revolvers rose; it shot the ground ahead. A wall of asphalt blocked us as we ran forward -

\- but Ryuko smashed right through the barrier, blades drawn as she clashed with two, third man circling to dodge to her back. His revolver tried to aim for her -

\- but my wind-arm smashed his skull in; shrieking as he staggered back, he shoved his revolver in his mouth -

\- and it blasted him with the strength of a thousand right up the road. The extreme weather was starting to fade, and I heard Ryuko still clashing with two behind me -

" - kill these fucking - we're not going to catch up to Sanageyama, I've got these two -"

\- and admittedly, I liked she was trying not to yell. Trust in her, I rushed in to the road as the extreme weather disappeared, leaving a mild night of a destroyed city.

My foe was three hundred feet up ahead, revolver's aim on me, three stars on his collar. I didn't recognize him; they must have been new club presidents. My strike had caved in half his skull, but he still staggered, aim lowering to my boots -

\- a wall of asphalt burst up ahead -

\- but I smashed through just as Ryuko had, ground-arm catching bits of rubble as I charged, hurling one chunk forward -

\- his aim rose to meet it -

\- and the keen end of another wind-propelled projectile burst through his chest out his back; the pain staggered him back, giving me time to clear the distance -

\- six shots entered my chest -

\- but a pillar of purple flame disintegrated the bullets; a puff of purple melted his revolver, barrel drooping as it blocked my five fists -

\- and we hit the ground fighting. In a whirlwind of blows we revolved down the road, and as six fists hit his face -

\- he gasped like he was dead; four fists smashed his ribs in, but I was pissed about Sanageyama then. I rose up, two stomps smashing his knees; his revolver disintegrated as he tried to crawl away -

\- and I wished Satsuki could've seen the next scene. Two arms gripped his legs, hanging him upsidedown, and as a man might snap a wishbone -

\- I tore his body in two, but before I could react -

\- an explosion blasted me with the strength of a hundred back, explosive resistance keeping me safe as I skid against the road -

' - they have fucking bombs in them?!' I shouted as I stood, vision turning back -

\- to see Ryuko's blade slicing one man in half -

\- and his body&uniform exploded in to a hundred chunks, blast nearly ripping Senketsu's eyepatch off; she swept with the speed of light back -

" - what the fuck?!" she shouted; a strand erupted from her palm and yanked in the next, and as he screamed -

\- the strand ballooned to a cocoon around him; I heard an explosion a second later -

\- but fortunately, no damage done to Ryuko directly. The cocoon dissolved, and out of the bloody coffin dropped three chunks of a man.

We were still panting when we came back to each other.

"She's - she fucking knows what Senketsu does." she grunted. Her anger was revving up again. "That's why - those fucking bombs - I can't absorb any new uniforms."

'Yeah.'. We were living it livid again. 'She's fucking - I don't even know what the fuck, and - all these fucking civilians, too - what the fuck is she doing?'

"She wouldn't be doing it if she couldn't get away with it, but…" Her anger paused for a second, but her head shook rabid. "Need to find somewhere new to stay. We're going to that fucking festival.

**["How do you snap a wishbo- oh FUCK, JESUS."]**


	8. Trigger

**[Get it? Trigger? Because -]**

Kofu's destruction shoved us out of the news, and the public was already calling for Sanageyama's head; so I clung to Ryuko being right again. Ragyo had promised to make a statement at the Cultural Arts Festival, ensuring it would be broadcast on every station.

The day of, Ryuko stole another motorcycle, and we were driving an hour away overground from the no-star district.

She tuned the radio down. "Still set to make a speech."

'Sounds like it, yeah.' I nodded like she could see me. 'Police are still planning to arrest her, too.'

She nodded, but I could see her. "…yeah. Still, though - they must have something planned to get away with it, or…" She sighed. We were still clueless. "…dunno."

'Just gotta kill them. Might be planning to, uh - fight the police or something?'

"Maybe, yeah. Just gotta -" - she sighed, and I saw her reason a second later. The road reduced to a one lane police checkpoint ahead; she still had the Senketsu-hiding jacket, but my four extra arms were bulging mine.

My fire&ice readied to burrow as she pulled in to line, a male cop checking IDs four spaces ahead.

'Ready.' I whispered and she nodded. He walked over to us once we came up, and his face recognized us immediately.

But he smiled. "Afternoon. Two headed to, ah - that festival at Honnōji?"

"Yep." said Ryuko, and he waved us off. We grinned like two fiends as we pulled away.

'Looks like we've got some fans.' I chimed and she laughed.

"Looks like it, yeah." She grinned. "Might even thank us once we kill Satsuki."

I nodded. Anxiety started filling my six arms over why Sanageyama would've made us in to heroes like that, but I tried to ignore it. Within the hour, a speck of the no-star district rose in the distance, and Ryuko pulled off. We buried the motorcycle and started burrowing towards Honnōji.

"Remember what we planned, right?"

I nodded, ready to review. 'If we split up - Hotel Love in Osaka."

"And if that gets destroyed?"

'Hakodate. And if they attack us first?'

"We flee." She nodded. "And if I, uh - see an opportunity?"

'I'll keep everyone else away from you. Can try to do it with, uh… wall of fire, gusts of wind. Maybe try to burrow to uh, get them off-balance.'

"Yeah." She nodded. "Just - be careful, right?"

'I will. Just gotta focus on keeping them away first.'

"Exactly. Still, uh…" She tapped her hair. "Inumata has… two weird arms. Sanageyama has weather, and…"

'Nonon has the ship.'

"Ragyo probably has something, too."

I nodded. She checked the location on her phone and I stopped.

"See you soon." She smiled, and we kissed.

'Love you.'

"Love you too."

I felt her anger turn up once she turned away, burrowing in a different direction with Senketsu's strands & claws. Gamagoori's stomped skull filled my head as I restarted my mining, and I started thinking what I wanted to see Ryuko do to Satsuki.

My fire&ice kept busy with the mining for another few minutes, and once I knew I was in the three-star district, a puff of purple hit the ceiling -

\- but something globe-shaped fell on me, and the next instant -

\- the explosion nearly tore me in half; I panted out an "oh fuck" as I heard two more mines erupt outward -

\- but a gust of wind sucked the oxygen from their blasts, keeping me safe in my now-widened tunnel, two explosive globes embedded in the walls. Even my explosive resistance wouldn't have saved me from their chain reaction, and they knew I was underground then. Fire&wind readied, a geyser of water blasted me out of my burrow -

\- to at last land in a Three-Star street full of mansions; with no time to waste, I rushed up to one of their lawns -

\- and a spray of purple set it alight; guards started rushing out behind a street corner ahead, and I knew more men were chasing me behind as I rushed up to greet them -

\- two arms met their two swords, and we hit the road fighting. Four arms blocked four strikes behind, six men around me with swords scratching; but I knew they couldn't match me. Six arms spinning, six swords sought my head -

\- a gust of wind blasted one's head off; a puff of purple melted one; a frozen fist shattered another; an explosion ripped one's spine out; a bolt charred one; a spike of asphalt burst out of the ground -

\- and went all the way through him from below. Laughing as I started my rushing again, more men were chasing after me. I stomped mid-rush -

\- and the road turned frozen behind; I turned to see them step on it -

\- and a dozen men froze as they hit the ground; their brethren shattered them as they charged through -

\- and ran direct in to a purple wall; but no one got out of that.

I kept my rush going down the street, setting everything I could alight; mansions, lawns, statues&roads. Even the alarm couldn't overpower the smoke, and I saw Satsuki's mansion on the distance as I ran -

\- but my phone vibrated; I took it quick -

_(Ryuko) "They're still here."_

_(Outcast) "Got it."_

\- and disintegrated a new hole below, leaving the burning district behind as I fled. My tunnel veered to where I knew the coliseum was; it had been built near the pillars, and I didn't run in to any new mines on my way there. Ryuko had burrowed in to one wall in the front-row, and once I got there, she gestured to the slit she'd sliced for viewing.

I put my headless eyes in. Ragyo & the others' entrance was on the other end, podium at the center, spectators in the seats, protestors outside.

Ragyo eventually came out, and I realized the commercials were filtered to make her look less dead. She was wearing a new gray robe. Everyone started booing once she came out, and a few glasses of yellow hit the Elite Three & Satsuki. We tried not to laugh.

We saw Ragyo come up to the podium, four behind her. Club presidents filed out of their entrance, and my fire-arm readied to flee. Ryuko clenched beside me.

Ragyo went up to the microphone in all the booing.

"I could make a speech - but I won't. Absolute Submission. Enjoy." she said, and in the next instantly -

\- one of my arms started to crack; but Ryuko donated a quick strand to heal me. I tapped her back to say I was okay -

\- but the scene in the spectators wasn't. They started all slumping in their seats, faces drooping; Satsuki went up to the microphone -

" - reconfigure. Exempt all Three-Stars, sans one - Worldwide."

\- and the club presidents & Elite Three shot up, laughing at the audiences' heads hitting their seats, voices dissipating. They looked like all the energy had been sucked out of them. Satsuki started grinning.

"As you're painfully aware now, if you're wearing a uniform - here or at home - the parasites inside their Life Fibers have activated. They'll continue to suck strength out of you and keep you permanently fatigued -"

" - but there's more than that, of course -" chimed Inumata -

" - and to any government that hopes to arrest us - watch."

She muttered something to the microphone, and in the next instant -

\- every audience member screamed, dozens of tendrils bursting out of their uniforms -

\- and slicing them in to a thousand pieces in the next; even I had to look away, and the screams dragged for the next few seconds, Satsuki and the rest laughing.

"We'll be -" - she laughed - " - we'll be sending our demands over the next few days! Don't bother trying to take your uniforms off!"

"Or else." chimed Nonon, and a few rolled their eyes at the clichè.

"Wonderful." laughed Ragyo. "Any closing statements?"

I glanced at Ryuko; my six arms still worked, and she nodded to show me Senketsu still was for some reason. Maybe he had something custom in him, but I couldn't tell why mine was. Admittedly, I was worried my new Three-Star would realize it was supposed to kill me any second, enough that I didn't think how it could.

Inumata stepped up to the microphone, the others already starting to leave. "And this has been -"

\- his head exploded like a crimson water balloon; what sounded like a bullet followed, and the survivors hit the ground -

\- and I knew where it'd come from immediately; the sound was from Satsuki's former pillar behind, and in the next instant -

" - we need to find out who that was." whispered Ryuko, and I nodded, wondering if it was our mystery man; but before I could speak -

\- a dozen strands yanked me with the strength of a million towards Ryuko; she was smashing through walls rushing out of the coliseum, bruised and bumpy cargo that was me on her back as she ran -

" - have to find out who that is." she panted & whispered, blades slicing a path out to the pillars. I didn't have any choice but to gasp & groan, barely seeing Nonon's ship rise out of the coliseum, prodigal pillar a thousand feet behind me. A hundred missiles hit it -

\- and the explosions tore it in to shreds, lasers following it as Ryuko ran for the hills. She was able to outrun all of them with her strands, and they weren't risking anyone but Nonon -

\- even if it was the most uncomfortable ride I'd ever been on. Even my vomit kept getting shoved back down my intestines; I could barely breathe with how fast she was going, and a few gasps protested as she rushed past the shattered pillar -

" - there." she nodded as she ran, seeing (what I assumed was) our mystery assassin as she rushed up to the hills, and as she crested over the peek -

\- she veered with the speed of light right -

\- and a laser charred the spot where I had been a second later; I knew they would all be running for us now, but I couldn't protest as she yanked herself left -

" - there!" she shouted; I closed my eyes to keep from vomiting -

\- and felt us enter something a few seconds later; my vision opened -

\- and we were in a better built tunnel than mine. Ryuko shouted -

" - wait - wait, don't close it! Did you kill Inumata?! We're - Ryuko and Outcast!"

I wondered if that'd be a good title of our story, but a man's voice replied after -

" - WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? CLOSE THE TUNNEL BEHIND YOU!"

" - go ahead." panted Ryuko -

\- a spray of purple hit the tunnel entrance, and I felt it collapse as we rushed through the curves and yawning paths. I finally got one breath out -

' - choking - me -'

" - no time!" shouted my strangling girlfriend, strands yanking & yanking us ahead&down. My stomach was about ten seconds behind me by then, and my ice had to repair the ceiling every time Nonon's missiles got near it -

\- but Ryuko finally stopped once the shockwaves faded; I hurled right on the floor as soon as she dropped me, stopping a dozen feet ahead.

" - wait, what?" panted Ryuko -

" - it's - good you're safe." sighed another man's voice ahead and over my retching. "I'll explain once - somewhere safer."

"You - no." she said. "You're going to tell us right -"

" - you realize your boyfriend is vomiting, right?" one laughed, and I gave the ground another glob of green as Ryuko turned to me -

" - oh fuck." she winced, and I disintegrated the excess, sitting on six elbows and two knees. I heard two men laughing as Ryuko crouched down.

"…um. Sorry?" she tried to chime.

'…w-warn me. N-Next time.' I groaned. My eyes drilled in my head, and my vision filled with static. I slumped back against the wall, water down my throat shoving the rest down as my vision turned right, and saw two men.

One, our formerly mohawked server - the other, our mystery man - both still laughing.

"You, er - you really should have warned him." laughed our mystery man. "Senketsu is still working, then?"

"Apparently!" laughed the second, and Ryuko turned.

"...he is." she grunted, blades taut. "Why are you helping us?"

Six arms pressed me up, and a puzzled frown tugged our mystery man's brow when he looked at me.

"… Worldwide is still working?"

'…yes.' I groaned, purple flames clearing the rest off -

" - tell us why you're fucking helping us." grunted Ryuko. "Now -"

" - I killed Inumata, didn't I?" said our former mohawked man. I noticed his back's rifle. "Is that enough to ask you to wait?"

"Wait for -"

\- the shockwaves started to come up in the distance, and the four of us groaned.

"We - need to get moving." said our mystery man. "End of the tunnel - if you wait for myself and Tsumage there, I'll explain everything."

"Fine. Be there." she said, and we rushed off past them. I got the feeling she hated not being in control as much as I just had, but she let me off the leash that time. The two men fled with us, but they couldn't match our speed. Ten seconds of running faded their footsteps.

My head was still sick, but I still tried to piece brain cells together. 'That's - one more down, at least, right? Inumata dead?'

She nodded. "Someone else wants to kill Satsuki too - yeah - but we need to be careful."

'Yeah.' I panted, vomit threatening my throat again. 'I - they must have - what was up with that Life Fiber shit?'

"I - yeah, the fucking -" - she winced - " - they just - I don't know, are they - fucking trying to take over the world or something?"

'Maybe?' I winced. 'The shit they said about - parasites and - demands, and the fucking - all the other shit she said.'

I couldn't understand it, so I just got angry to pretend like I did.

"But your uniform's still working, right?"

'Still good. I don't know why.'

"Senketsu isn't - Senketsu is still good, but - he doesn't know anything about it either, and - fuck."

The footsteps disappeared.

'Maybe… they'll know about it?'

"Maybe, yeah - but - is that why he was helping us? Because he knew that - maybe they knew this is what she was trying to do?"

'That - sounds like a good theory.' I shrugged, completely clueless, and she laughed -

" - you can at least try to -"

' - I mean, they did kill Inumata -' I chimed, and she laughed -

" - fucking head exploded in - half a second -"

' - I thought it was you at first -'

" - I wish." she grinned. "Four left now anyway, right? Uh - Satsuki, Ragyo - the..."

She paused as we kept our eternal run.

"… pink-hair bitch?" She smiled like a lemming, and I laughed.

'Nonon?'

"Sounds right." She winked. "And whoever else comes after us. Just gotta keep moving. Can flee if it's a trap."

We eventually came up to a steel door built in to the tunnel, keypad beside. I could've disintegrated it, but I figured it was something for our mystery men to solve. We theorized more while we waited, but Senketsu didn't know anything about him, and all we knew was one of them had killed Inumata, and one of them made good takoyaki.

Once they came up, they were panting much worse than we were. The takoyaki man's hair looked like a blue mop.

"I - minute." he panted, stepping over to the keypad. "One - one minute. Fucking - fucking uniforms."

"You - what?" said Ryuko -

" - please." he groaned. "Almost - almost there."

He tapped a few numbers in, and the door opened to another tunnel, shutting as we went through it. I saw another steel door at the end of the tunnel, but it looked like it was outside; like it was part of a building.

"The - the boat." he panted, coming up to it and knocking. It opened, and though we were still wary, we went in behind them to what looked like a ship's storage room.

The door shut behind, and the floor shifted as we sat down on a crate. They were still wheezing on the wall.

"…m-minute. Not - you're safe - we're, here to help." he groaned.

After a few minutes, he recovered, and nodded as he stood.

"My name is Aikuro, and - this is our ship."

"Sunbreaker." said our mohawked man. "My name is Tsumage."

"…Ryuko." Her grip clenched.

'Outcast.' I said, and Tsumage's eyes went perplexed.

"…that's your name?"

'Yes.' I mumbled, not understanding why everyone asked that.

"It is, surprisingly." shrugged Aikuro. "As for - this ship is Nudist Beach's -" - we tried not to laugh - " - it was an organization - is an organization, created by your father. Ryuko's father."

"Uh, what?"

"Isshin." nodded Tsumage. Ryuko's face didn't believe him, but he continued. "He used to work for REVOCS - some high-level researcher, or so he said."

"Not - not to say he was lying, of course." nodded Aikuro. I realized he was probably more scared of us than last time. "I had worked for -"

" - my dad worked for REVOCS?" said Ryuko. I knew she didn't believe it, but it made some sense to me.

"I…yes." winced Aikuro. "I - understand your disbelief, but…"

Ryuko sighed. "…go on."

He nodded. "As I was saying, I - had worked for a lower-level position, before, but - he had recruited people he could trust for this. He, he was worried that - well. Essentially, what's happened now. Er, did you see -"

"- the parasites?" said Ryuko.

'What happened at the festival?' I said, and he nodded.

"The - parasites. Yes."

"…we did, yeah." said Ryuko, and he nodded again.

"It's - something only known to high-level employees, supposedly. Life Fibers have parasitic organisms that live within them."

If Satsuki hadn't confirmed it for us, we would've left.

"REVOCS doesn't allow outside testing - but Isshin knew about it." said Tsumage. "He went in to hiding shortly after you were born."

"…go on." said Ryuko, leaning against me. She'd hold her disbelief until we were alone.

Aikuro started exposition dumping again.

"But - he was worried for, yes - essentially what's occurred now. REVOCS has control over these parasites by now - they'll kill anyone who takes their uniform off - can remotely kill - "

' - incredibly bad shit.' I said, and he nodded grimacing.

"…yes. One way to put it."

Ryuko frowned, tapping Senketsu. "Why isn't Senketsu affected, then?"

"It doesn't have the parasitic variant." said Aikuro. "Isshin had used gene therapy to remove it, supposedly - although…" He sighed. "…when - Nui killed him - she destroyed his notes on it."

"…wait." muttered Ryuko, taking her phone out. I saw her pull up a map as she handed it to Aikuro. "Show me where my dad lived."

"I... of course." he nodded. He tapped it after a few seconds, and Ryuko's eyes told me he was right as he handed it back.

"…f-few more questions." she grunted, and he nodded.

"I - understand. Go ahead."

They talked for a few minutes. Ryuko asked questions about her father even I couldn't answer, and the way her movements were slowing told me he was getting all of them right. Eventually she sat down beside me.

"…uniforms." she muttered. "Why are your uniforms working?"

I got the feeling we'd have a long talk later.

"…right." he said. "As for - our own uniforms, we have - nearly a hundred members of Nudist Beach, but - we do use uniforms, still. We're not stupid."

"They're a special variant." said Tsumage. "A nonparasitic variant."

"Are they as good as regular ones?" said Ryuko, and Aikuro frowned.

"…well. Admittedly."

'…they're way weaker, aren't they?' I said, and he sighed.

"At most - One-Star level strength."

Four winced.

"Precisely - but - that brings me to, I need to ask - Outcast, if I may. Why is your uniform still working?"

'…uh.' I glanced at Ryuko, and she nodded to give me permission; but I still just shrugged.

"… If - it is made by REVOCS, isn't it?"

'It was made by Iori -'

" - wait." said Ryuko, holding her hand up. "Think I know why." She tapped Senketsu, expecting me to understand.

Unfortunately, I was still slow, so I blinked at her and smiled like a real dope.

'Go ahead.' I nodded, completely clueless.

"…er, what?" said Aikuro. "Why are you tapping Senketsu?"

Ryuko laughed, but it was just to me. "Because I've been using him to repair your uniform."

'I get it.' I nodded, completely clueless.

"Senketsu doesn't have the parasites -"

" - of - of course, yes." nodded Aikuro. "If you're - no, yes. If there's some strands of Senketsu inside his uniform - I suppose the nonparasitic variant could kill off the parasites of others."

"That's - yeah." she nodded. "That's why I can, uh - absorb people's uniforms - and still not be affected."

'Mystery solved.'

"…mystery solved." muttered Tsumage. "If - she can, it would be useful to -"

" - Ryuko." said Aikuro. "If - would you mind if I took samples of your strands?"

She glanced down at Senketsu. I realized we still didn't know why he could talk, though I was more curious why her father had made it a schoolgirl's uniform.

"…no." We stood up. "Not giving you shit until we know you're safe."

Tsumage sighed - " - didn't we just -"

\- Ryuko shot him a glare that nearly melted him to the wall, and Aikuro nodded with the twenty-year retail smile.

"Of course. We'll be safe for a while. Currently, we're setting out to the Pacific Ocean - for now. Better time to - assess the situation."

I knew he was trying to woo us, but that didn't mean it didn't work.

"Do you - need food - rest, anything?" he said.

"A bed." said Ryuko.

'Takoyaki.' I muttered, and he tried not to laugh.

"I'll lead you to your room, then, and - takoyaki. Please let me know if you need anything else."

He led us out of the storage room and to the hall, and we passed by another few dozen people on the way to our room. Every one of them looked like they recognized Ryuko, and I started really not liking it. If they believed what they were saying, and if every uniform but ours' really were under control; that left Ryuko as world-savior.

I felt like I was in a story. I couldn't think of any other reason why my uniform wasn't affected, but I wanted to reach out in to that mist of uncertainty & doubt that was swirling in my head and grab something more solid. Something that didn't end in "Ryuko saves the world", something where we just had to kill Satsuki and the rest for ourselves. I was an eighteen-year old guy dating an eighteen-year old woman I loved; I wasn't dating some goddess who was Earth's last hope, and maybe that's why we didn't speak once we got to our room.

Even once Aikuro delivered our takoyaki, she was chewing slower than she had before. Normally we would've joked about how crazy he sounded, but "Satsuki placed bombs inside of club presidents" and "Life Fibers have parasites" would've made us laugh a month ago too, and by now that staircase of disbelief was built to where maybe "Ryuko saves the world" was in sight on the last step.

I couldn't feel what she was imagining.

'…Ryuko.' I muttered, and she nodded.

"…I know."

'What do you want to do?'

"Kill Satsuki. Just. Kill Satsuki."

She sat up.

"Going to fucking kill Satsuki - Ragyo - fucking everyone else. Stomp their fucking heads in."

'We'll rip their fucking heads off.'

"No. I want her to die slowly with a fucking hole in her skull. I want her - I want to fucking torture every single one of them. Nonon. Ragyo. Satsuki. Sanageyama."

Our violence shaved the initial edges off, and for the rest of our first night in Sunbreaker, we talked about our targets with bad intentions. We were Honnōji's most violent couple, and we were going to kill Nonon, Ragyo, Satsuki, Sanageyama, and everyone between us & them.


	9. The Eyebrow

Japan lost half its population. REVOCS parasitic uniforms left Satsuki and the rest with complete control. Club presidents and people scared to die filled up their new government, and threats of national genocide kept other countries from intervening.

Over the next week, Ryuko gave Aikuro samples of Senketsu. He had fled to Nudist Beach after Satsuki nearly caught him, learned his takoyaki recipe after a string of failed cookbooks, and hoped to create nonparasitic Three-Star uniforms; but we knew how he talked about Isshin's superior skill meant he couldn't. Nudist Beach raided Life Fiber factories whenever we could; not wearing a uniform was punishable by death, and reporting someone without one earned you a month without fatigue.

Ryuko I still celebrated Christmas New Year's together even if we couldn't buy any gifts. Sometimes Satsuki's face would peer out of the ship's creaking and whisper torture threats in to my head, and I clung for some reason to how stupid her unibrow looked. Someone with a black caterpillar on their forehead couldn't be that scary. My mind would wrap six arms around her neck strangle her every time she talked about Ryuko. I had killed her dozens of times, so we just needed to do it once in real life.

We met with Nudist Beach's high-ranks on another Wednesday.

"… Kanazawa's already asked us not to come." muttered Aikuro as we sat down. "Not after last time."

"We're going to need some way of preventing this." sighed Tsumage. "Ryuko can - absorb their uniforms, but there's not anything preventing Ragyo from - even once we can lure her out -"

" - he knows." sighed Rin, the only woman besides Ryuko but with the least amount of hair. "We all know that - don't remind him. Hard enough as it is, yes?"

"…no. You're right." Tsumage's head shook. "I -"

" - it's not hard at all, actually." groaned Aikuro, sitting up. "I realize a million people died. I realize it's cruel not to care, and I don't feel any of it."

"It's not your fault." nodded Hagakure, male. "If we hadn't -"

" - I don't care whether it's my fault or not. As I said - I don't feel it."

Everyone paused. None of us wanted to say we hadn't felt it either. Satsuki had triggered a million deaths in one of the cities we raided.

"…what's next, then?" said Ryuko, and Aikuro grimaced.

"More samples. More Senketsu samples. I can't tell whether I'm on the edge of something or not."

'Anything, uh - anything I can do to help?' I said, and his head shook.

"...no. Keep what you've been doing."

"From most violent student to fisherman." chimed Tsumage. "Right?"

I nodded. They had asked me to be Nudist Beach's dedicated fisherman with the new drip of members, as I was the only person able to hunt whales besides Ryuko. I was a true wrestler then.

'Something like that.'

"We should - make a stop soon, anyway." said Rin. "Outcast, can you tell Yamazaki to anchor for a bit?"

'Sure.'

I kissed Ryuko and heard Senketsu's strands passed across the table as I left.

* * *

The next month, Ryuko I celebrated Valentine's Day and left Senketsu with Aikuro. Someone had stolen chocolate DVDs from the mainland, and we imposed a "no talking about Satsuki" rule for our day of cuddling kaiju.

Godzilla vs Gigan had just ended. She rolled off of me, dipping her hand overboard to scoop up Godzilla vs Megalon.

'Can we skip that one?' I laughed.

"We're doing a marathon - jeez. No skipping." she laughed as she got up and put the disc in. "Does the costume suck in that one, too?"

She laid back down and I curled six arms around her. She was just wearing a sweater thong, but my lower half wasn't having trouble that time.

'Eh - it's not as bad as the King Kong one - but I don't like Jet Jaguar.'

"Is that who he fights?"

'Sort of.' I laughed. 'I mean, it's like - a human-looking robot, so it just looks weird having Godzilla next to...' My head shook. '…it's too, uh…'

"Too real?" she grinned, and we laughed.

'Just reminds you it's not real, yeah. Too much.'

"If only." She winked. "I'll judge for myself."

'If you say so.'

She sighed happily and laid her head on my chest. "…somehow always comes back, anyway."

'Uh, he's indestructible, Ryuko.'

Admittedly, I indulged another part of me when it came to monster movies. I was nervous about showing that to Ryuko at first.

'So long as humans keep nuclear testing, Godzilla will always exist -'

\- but even she started laughing - " - all philosophical -"

' - that's - that's the theme of the movies!' I protested, and her grin started prodding.

"Big brute boyfriend - and a philosopher."

'You know you love that.' I laughed, and the taunt in her smile lowered.

"…yeah. That, and…" This time, her whole face went lemming. "…kinda like - that…" She laughed nervously. "You, uh. Don't really like anyone but me."

'I - um. I guess so, yeah.' I muttered. Even Nudist Beach usually stayed away from us.

"And I don't like anyone but you."

I paused for a while and thought about Honnōji, then said 'I love you'.

"I love you too." She started grinning again. "...this movie sucks anyway, right?"

'Yeah.' I laughed.

She sat on my lap and rubbed against me. We started kissing, and six arms peeled down her thong.

"Mmm…" Her fingers dipped under my shirt as she started rocking. "Let's -"

\- Aikuro's voice filled the ship -

" - Ryuko and Outcast, please come see me immediately."

'Are you fucking kidding me?' I sputtered, relevantly, and Ryuko laughed as she got up and left my six arms hanging.

"After."

I nodded and tried to rush out the door once she was dressed. When we got to Aikuro's lab, five uniforms were on the table, and Aikuro had a syringe a shirtless Tsumage.

"What's up?" said Ryuko.

"Sorry if I interrupted you." said Aikuro, and I wondered if he knew for a second. "Ryuko - I need you here if this fails."

'What are you doing?'

Tsumage took one of the uniforms, and as he put it on, his back face drooped as his breath slowed.

"If I created this right -" - sighed Aikuro - " - perhaps it'll destroy those fucking parasites. It'll destroy all the Life Fibers in the process - but it'll destroy those parasites with it. Hopefully."

"Hopefully, yeah." nodded Ryuko.

He had already tried it three times over the past weeks, but we kept confidence every time. He shoved the syringe in to Tsumage -

\- and cursed at his still-hunched back; a nod to Ryuko, and she sliced the uniform off.

"...another try, then." he muttered. "Sorry."

* * *

More holidays passed and Tsumage was the permanent test subject. Satsuki detonated another city after the next batch of uniforms were taken. We learned not to pass by his lab whenever he was in there; some days it filled with cursing, and others silence.

The day before May, he called us back.

"Another test." chimed Tsumage. "Almost starting to get used to that 'thousand leeches sucking your energy out' feeling."

"These fucking parasites." he grunted. "Fucking - finally can fucking test for them, at least. At least there's that. So fucking hard to see with these microscopes."

With another few words, he shoved the syringe in Tsumage -

\- and Tsumage groaned as his chest hit the table -

" - what? What is it?" groaned Aikuro, already gesturing to Ryuko -

" - it's -" - Tsumage winced, head sweating, and after another few seconds -

\- all the air burst out of his lungs, and he hit the floor limp. Aikuro gestured to Ryuko again, but stopped once Tsumage breathed again.

"…t-test it." he winced. "F-For - p-parasites."

* * *

Two weeks from then, we met with him again, and he was still smiling better than we'd seen him before.

"And this," he laughed, gesturing to one fabric arm on the table - " - your injector."

'My injector?' I said, scooping it up as he nodded.

"A seventh arm for you. A bit crude, but - well. It won't degrade the power of your uniform, I've already tested it on the Two-Stars you brought back, and -" - he laughed again - " - it's - it takes some time to work, but -"

" - uh, he needs a second one, too." chimed Ryuko, and Aikuro kept laughing.

"Of - of course. I should've realized it, really. Six arms - of course you'd want eight."

"Big spider boyfriend." grinned Ryuko, prodding me, her big spider boyfriend. If Aikuro wasn't there, I would've made whatever sound spiders made.

Aikuro's lab stopped filling with sobs slurs, and he sewed two new arms for my two injectors. They wouldn't do anything against uniforms higher than One-Star, but we were finally gaining back inland. Nudist Beach started readying to mass-produce vaccines, but we still had problems in the meeting room.

"Uzu Sanageyama." sighed Tsumage. "If we have a choice - it'd be best to deal with him first."

Given it was all on me and Ryuko, I'm not sure why they said we. I appreciated the team spirit.

"Meteorology." muttered Ryuko. "That's what we're calling it, right?"

Aikuro nodded. "I suppose it's appropriate. Control over weather. But…" His sighing head leaned back. "…you said - he escaped the last time you fought him?"

Ryuko nodded. "Yeah. Used his, uh… wind and clouds to get away."

'Left a few people behind to fight us, too.' I said, and they nodded.

"…right." muttered Aikuro. "They're aware of Sunbreaker by now, as well - it's too risky to go near the mainland."

"Already over capacity, too." said Tsumage. "Going to have to start, uh - sharing rooms soon."

He was trying to chime, but Aikuro's head shook.

"… Fuji might be the easiest. Most likely to get a response, at least. You, er - already tested it with Ryuko, yes?"

"We did, yeah." she nodded. "Feels pretty weird - but it'll work."

"Good. If - whenever you're ready, we can bring you to - as close to the coast as we can get - and swim up Fuji River. You'll come in to Suruga Bay - a bit north, and there's Fuji."

He passed us a map, and we nodded as we studied.

"…she'll probably, uh…" murmured Ryuko. "…probably'll kill the entire city once we get there. If she gets notified."

I tried not to think about it.

"…yes." sighed Aikuro. "She - likely will, yes. But - Fuji has enough resources, that - once it's a bit safer - we can start to mass-produce vaccines."

She nodded. We knew there wasn't any point to asking if there was another way or if there were better cities, so we finished studying.

Aikuro gave us a waterproof communication device, and the rest of Nudist Beach's high-ranks saw us jump off the ship. I had my wind-hand around Ryuko's mouth the whole way, and the water started kicking us back once the sea morphed in to Fuji River. My ground-arm shattered every stone that hit us, but I couldn't use my firearm on the trash kelp that was dripping down my faceless face once we got in to Suruga Bay.

We leaped up and out on to one side of the highway, roads ahead. We got in to the city night and screens with Satsuki reading her fiction filled the streets. I thought it was weird she thought she needed to conquer the world to be praised for her lack of talent, as she could have just worked on an anime.

I injected everyone and Ryuko absorbed every uniform we passed by; their faces filled with energy as we kept running, and as we turned one corner -

\- something blasted us right in to the wall; thrashing against it, I caught our foe in my vision's corner, fifty feet away on the other sidewalk -

\- and I liked his fear when he realized who we were; but something was still pinning us against the wall, Ryuko's blades starting to crack -

' - Worldwide -' I panted; an explosion tore the wall behind -

\- and we flew through the hole in to the convenience store behind, shelves smashing and backs meeting the floor as we skid back. Rising to our feet again, we saw him fully now, orange bat on his shoulder; it screeched -

\- and blasted us against another wall; another explosion hole brought us out to the road, and as we rose up again -

" - Senketsu!" shouted Ryuko; a dozen strands erupted out of her palm -

\- and suddenly were thrown right in her face, and in the next instant -

\- he appeared right before us with knife drawn; Ryuko stomped -

\- and he disappeared to fifty feet away again. Ryuko had her boots still dug in the middle of the road, but before we could react -

\- his bat screeched and blasted us back again; we smashed against another wall again -

\- and another explosion cleared us to land in the store behind, grunting as we stood again. Ryuko readied to stomp, but I realized something then, whispering in her ear and setting her grinning.

He appeared before us again; I stomped -

\- and a wall of asphalt burst up behind; in to the sudden barrier he reappeared, stumbling back only twenty feet away -

\- and a set of Senketsu strands hit his face -

\- and expanded to a cocoon around him; he fell limp and to the ground, and the man-turned-butterfly started thrashing in his cage. Ryuko & I laughed every time his cocoon disappeared and smashed in to another wall. I had figured out that he could create or destroy space, but it didn't look like he could do much against walls.

There wasn't any way for him to escape, so we just watched for a few minutes. The cocoon-man eventually sank against one wall, and once we went up, Ryuko peeled a pinhole for my electricity to knock him unconscious.

She grinned as the cocoon opened and she absorbed his uniform. "Got the bitch."

'Yeah.' I laughed. 'Lemme know once he wakes up.'

She nodded as I set off. I injected every civilian I saw for the next hour, and some of them tried to apologize for ever thinking we were crazy. I pretended like me & Ryuko had known about Satsuki's plan all along, and for some reason, a few gave me their numbers. None of them were women.

Ryuko eventually called me back, and I came back to him bound in the middle of the road with a Senketsu cloth on his face.

"Here's what you're going to do." she chimed. "Call Satsuki for help - and say whatever you need to say to get Sanageyama to come here. Got it?"

"I-I - o-okay, s-sure!" he nodded quickly, and disappointment filled me for a second.

Ryuko glanced to me. I shrugged, and we still waterboarded him for an hour. He sobbed in to his phone after, and once Satsuki had said Sanageyama would be on his way, Ryuko's blades scattered him down the road.

I burrowed down in to a hole next to her, waited fifteen minutes, and in the next instant -

" - are you fucking kidding me?!" grunted Ryuko; my vision turned up -

\- and saw Nonon's ship make a bombing run over the city; I leaped up to Ryuko, gripped her tight with a purple body -

\- but a dome of Senketsu formed over, absorbing every last explosive projectile; we heard the city slaughtered behind, but didn't have much choice but to wait it out, more bombs and missiles erupting everywhere around us.

"Good?" winced Ryuko, and I nodded before realizing she couldn't see my head.

'Is it - did you see if it's all of them, or -'

\- Satsuki sliced the dome open right in my face; I (admittedly) shrieked as I stumbled back -

\- and felt Nonon's battleship five hundred feet up&behind as RyukoSatsuki clashed -

" - handle the other bitch!" shouted Ryuko, and I rushed off to handle the other bitch.

Ryuko told me every moment afterward. (Her fight was more interesting than mine.)

Satsuki shot back from their clash -

\- and a strand pulled Ryuko to the other side of the road, shattered ground and surviving buildings, fifty feet separating them.

"'Bring Sanageyama.' As fucking if." grunted Satsuki. "Every camera saw you two as soon as you came in."

"What makes you think -"

" - I don't give a shit what you have to say. I should've had Gamagoori rip your fucking head off on that pillar - but I can still make both of you fucking suffer. JUNKETSU!"

Junketsu transformed; she started rushing at Ryuko, and in the next instant -

\- a strand erupted from Ryuko's back and yanked her to the building behind; Senketsu's strands went around the roof, digging and burrowing in to the walls -

\- and tearing the top half clear off; they threw them down to Satsuki -

\- but a puff of red gas erupted from Junketsu's right eye, hitting it midair -

\- and the entire projectile melted like it'd been through a thousand degree forge; Satsuki swept back as it hit the ground, fifty feet still separating them.

Ryuko started mumbling to Senketsu. "That's new."

"Remember what we fought before." he said. (At that point, I believed her he could talk.) "Green is corrosive. Pink is adhesive. Black appears to be mutation. Junketsu's boosters, the flash."

"Yeah."

Starting her rush left away from Satsuki, parked cars flanked her as she veered on to the road, lines of buildings like the previous. She felt Satsuki chasing her as she ran; Junketsu still had better close-range, so she wanted to keep her away first, and as she passed by more cars -

\- a stomp of Senketsu threw every last in to Satsuki -

\- but puffs of green corroded every last; grunting as she ran, Ryuko ran left on to the sidewalk, stores with neon signs overhead, and as she glanced back -

\- Junketsu's legs flashed -

\- Ryuko yanked a neon sign down -

\- Satsuki appeared right ahead of her -

\- and smashed right in to the sign; the electrical current staggered her back, and as new Senketsu strands yanked the wires to her being -

\- Ryuko's blades slit her chest open -

\- but Ryuko dodged with the speed of light back from a puff of black; Satsuki shot forward, and the two hit the road fighting. Dozens of strikes filled every second; Satsuki's dual Bakuzan didn't have any new abilities to it, but Ryuko's blades kept taking puffs of green & black from Junketsu's eyes, Senketsu's strands forced to keep her weapons together.

The pressure of Satsuki's strikes forced her further down the road, asphalt spitting blood. Dodging another green cloud, Ryuko swept back -

\- right on to a glob of pink; before she could react, Satsuki's blade was in her chest -

\- but Senketsu's strands yanked Satsuki in to her -

\- and her claws burst through Satsuki's eyes & out of her skull; the two ripped themselves off of each other, Ryuko freed again as she stumbled back. (She had reconfigured an extra layer of Senketsu in her boot as a sacrifice to the adhesive.)

She stomped again as she stepped back, thirty feet separating the two. Junketsu's legs flashed, and in the next instant -

\- nothing happened, leaving her twitching waiting to react. Some crevices were cracked in the road. Ryuko had stomped to keep them open for Senketsu's tendrils, but in the next instant -

\- a puff of black burst out of the aperture behind -

\- but a globe of Senketsu burst out her back to catch it; and a whirl of scissor sliced it off before it could spread, connection lost as it fell right to the ground. More distance needed, she started running back up the road, eyes behind for when Junketsu's boosters would activate. She started talking with Senketsu again.

"Is - do you know what it does?" she panted as she ran -

" - I do not." said Senketsu, and she sighed as he stitched her wounds. "Ryuko. Be wary on our Life Fibers - 93%."

"I know." she muttered. The corner was up ahead; she rushed out to the curb and glanced right, and on the distance, she saw a purple boulder burst through Nonon's ship from below.

Behind, Junketsu's legs flashed again -

\- but the next scene was instant. Satsuki rushed with the speed of light at her; Ryuko stomped -

\- and a Senketsu pillar burst up out of the road, opposite the adjacent wall; she threw a web to connect the two as she dodged left around the curb -

\- and laughed as Satsuki rushed right through the net, entangled and tripping on her own speed as she hit the road -

\- and slammed right in to another building. Senketsu's webs had gripped her tight; Ryuko still had a strand attached, and ripped her prey up -

\- and smashed her back in to the ground, Satsuki still desperately thrashing as Ryuko stepped back to the curb, one Bakuzan trying desperately to slice -

\- but Ryuko realized a second later there was only one blade -

" - BAKUZAN!" shouted Satsuki -

\- and Ryuko's blade spun to meet the midair blade flying at her back; behind, she heard Satsuki break out of her prison. The free Bakuzan started slashing and slicing as Satsuki rose up behind, but before Ryuko could look back -

\- a melted steel beam hit her back -

\- and it wrapped around her like a car around a tree, choking the air out of her as Satsuki rushed up to her; two blades met two again, and in the next instant -

\- the beam fell off of her -

\- and a swift strand yanked her right away from Satsuki, turning to face her foe again as she landed, Senketsu reconfiguring again. Satsuki had both her blades again; thirty feet separated them, and the two clashed again. In a whirlwind of blows they revolved down the street, and every now and then, Ryuko saw my homemade purple meteors smashing through Nonon's ship in another street.

Inch by inch, Satsuki's strikes forced her back, but Ryuko kept circling to dodge. They were still mostly even, but Senketsu's boots started drilling pinholes in the ground in preparation. Puffs of gas would burst out of Junketsu's eyes; but Satsuki had to dodge Senketsu spikes too.

Ryuko had her plan finished soon. Throwing one blade behind Satsuki, a strand yanked it back -

\- Satsuki blocked it with one blade, giving Ryuko time to stomp -

\- for the next instant scene. Four tendrils burst out of the ground behind; their grip shot to Satsuki's legs & hands, and as both Bakuzans went to slice them -

\- Ryuko's blades went on the offensive, forcing Satsuki to block as she grunted & thrashed, puffs of green gas trying to corrode the tight links; but one tiny strand would burst out to absorb & sacrifice itself every time, and as Satsuki blocked again -

\- a puff of yellow hit Ryuko's face; the agony forced her back, tears clenching her eyes shut as she staggered -

\- but a Senketsu fist bashed Satsuki's face in; another arm burst out and grabbed her neck, smashing and scraping her face against the road.

More puffs of yellow came out of Junketsu's right eye, but Ryuko threw her glove to her face for a gas mask; her Kamui's fists shoved Satsuki's nose in to her skull - but the other tendrils were weakening. Satsuki finally sliced clear through three -

\- just for the fourth to reform to a hammer -

\- and smash Junketsu's right eye to a thousand pieces; Ryuko recalled all of Senketsu back as she stepped away, Satsuki rising up again ahead.

A puff of minuscule gas came out of what was Junketsu's right eye, and Satsuki was enraged when she saw it.

"F-Fucking worthless uniform." she grunted, and said something next Ryuko didn't understand. "A worthless - worthless fucking imitation of Junketsu."

Given Satsuki had named Junketsu to copy Senketsu, we figured she was trying some odd taunt. The two started to circle. Ryuko passed another parked car at her back; she stomped down and launched it up in to the air, and another strand threw it at Satsuki -

\- for the next instant scene. Junketsu's left eye emit a white puff and hit the projectile; it shattered in to a thousand shards and flew at Ryuko -

\- and even she could barely dodge more than half, shards slicing her skin and pain shoving her back to the sidewalk. Junketsu's legs flashed -

\- and Satsuki was in front of her again; Ryuko's blades blocked her's, and the two started up again. Senketsu was busy stitching Ryuko's wounds for the next minute as they fought, and she had to match Satsuki's aggression; they started slicing and crashing through buildings, strands yanking Ryuko back and ripping stores off their hinges. Once she had pulled an entire store down on Satsuki, but the white gas shattered the rubble & threw it at her again, forcing her to add a shield on one of her blades.

They burst out of one wall and to the road again; Satsuki's blade caught her's -

\- and as terrible the next scene made me feel, she asked me to relay it. Satsuki managed to grip her hair and smash her on to the ground; the concrete started scrapping her cheeks & skin in to red rocks, and Satsuki's boots were threatening to smash Senketsu's spine in half with how fast she was stomping. Ryuko was trying to keep conscious and dodge Satsuki's blades with her twitching, and she told me it was the first time she was actually scared she was going to die.

She had to do something risky. Senketsu's gas mask was still on her face both Bakuzans were on her neck -

\- and Satsuki slit her throat open -

\- just to curse at the next instant scene.

**" - ARE YOU FUCKING -"**

\- Senketsu's tendrils had burrowed within Ryuko's neck and caught the blades -

\- and their sawblades started spinning, strands keeping both blades trapped in her throat; Satsuki ripped one Bakuzan out -

\- but the internal sawblades carved the other to a thousand shards; Satsuki shot back, and Ryuko shot up, tendrils sweeping out the metal and Life Fibers restitching her wounds as she turned, thirty feet separating them. She still had her blades. Satsuki had one, but Ryuko's face was still dripping.

Ryuko glanced behind. She was in a T-shaped intersection with her back to a building. In the next street, she saw an explosion blasting Nonon out of a five-floor building, and a purple streak jumping out to stomp on it.

"Ryuko." said Senketsu. "I can't stitch all -"

" - I know." she grunted and turned, building up ahead; with no time to waste, she rushed up to it, and as Satsuki rushed in pursuit behind -

\- Senketsu's strands shot to the foundation and dug in to it, tearing through the bottom and gripping the whole building tight -

\- and she didn't look back as she flipped it over her shoulders & in to Satsuki; rushing through the ruins to another road, her eyes ripped left -

\- and saw me about to chase Nonon in to another building -

" - Outcast!" she shouted; I paused and glanced right - " - heal!"

\- and a dose of ice chilled her wounds as she rushed past me, Satsuki veering to avoid the carpet of icicles I left behind Ryuko. I set the building alight, and saw Ryuko disappearing down another street corner left. Junketsu's legs flashed -

\- and Satsuki disappeared, but I heard them fighting again. Satsuki's gone-blade meant she couldn't go on the offensive as much, but she still had Junketsu's left eye for white yellow gas.

Ryuko's strikes forced her on to the curb; one blade shot to Satsuki's shoulder -

\- she blocked it -

\- and the second cleaved halfway through Satsuki's arm before Junketsu's boosted leg kicked Ryuko away. They rushed and three blades clashed again, but Ryuko had a change of tactics then. Satsuki could still run away with Junketsu's boosters, and she would've if Ryuko had torn up the second Bakuzan.

On the distance, she heard Nonon screaming like Gamagoori, and like Hito, she asked me not to tell her. The two started crashing through every building in the next avenue; Ryuko was trying to let Satsuki land a few hits to buy me time to help, but she had to be careful. Junketsu's left eye was still standing; Satsuki's blade swept back as they hit another road, and though Ryuko wanted to let it land -

\- Bakuzan impaled clear through her midsection; gasping and sputtering, Senketsu's sawblade formed -

\- but a puff of white started to melt it; a second puff erupted out of Junketsu's eye -

\- but a pipe burst out of her saw swallowed it, careful holes filtering it and blasting it right in to Satsuki's blade -

\- and melting it instantly. Junketsu's legs flashed -

\- just in time for Ryuko's claws to grip her hair and throw her with the strength of a million down the road, asphalt sanding and tearing her skin as she rolled rolled. Ryuko rushed as fast as she could to catch up to her before Junketsu's legs flashed again, and her grip shot to Satsuki's hair again -

\- with not a chance of loss then. She smashed Satsuki's skull in to the concrete, dual blades on her back, no weapons left for our foe; she kept kicking and screaming like a goddess dethroned, and as a white puff of gas erupted from Junketsu's left eye -

\- Ryuko threw her glove in to it; expanding like a cocoon, it swallowed the gas eye as she ripped Satsuki by her hair up -

\- and slammed her jaw in to the concrete again; but in the next instant -

\- Junketsu's boosted leg bashed Ryuko's chest in; she staggered back, Satsuki spinning to her feet, flash fading as she rushed at Ryuko -

\- and right in to a spike that impaled her chest and went out her back; more sawblades formed to spin Satsuki's internals red, but Ryuko ripped her off and stomped Junketsu's remaining eye to a thousand pieces. Senketsu started warning her about getting too angry, but every time her boot drove on Satsuki's spine kept her rage going.

Screams filled the avenue, and by the time I came up, one look at me set Ryuko only a bit calmer. She ripped Satsuki up by her hair and put her dual blades around her neck.

Senketsu started absorbing Junketsu off Satsuki. Every time she called me up to Student Council's office hit my head. It would be noble to pretend we were executing her for the good of the world, but I won't lie to you. I enjoyed killing that evil thing for my sake, and then for Ryuko.

"…g-go." she said, glancing up to me. "G-Go. You - do you think I'm f-fucking scared to die?"

Ryuko started digging her scissors in, and Satsuki's neck spit blood.

"F-Fucking do it." grunted Satsuki between the pain. "F-Fucking do it. I'm not - I'm not a s-single bit fucking afraid to die."

Ryuko dug her scissors in -

\- and unclenched, strands healing Satsuki's wounds.

"W-What?" grunted Satsuki. "Are you - you're fucking scared, now?! Every fucking life you've ruined - you're fucking scared, now?!"

Ryuko dug her scissors in again, and Satsuki realized we weren't.

**[I'll say this chapter might have too much violence even for me, but, well, it -is- two people psycho enough to plot to vengeance-murder 5-7 people off of a guess.]**


	10. Finale

After a day with Satsuki, we were near the end. Aikuro theorized that the key to controlling the parasites was in Ragyo's robe and asked Ryuko not to absorb it. Our best bet was to kill Ragyo, and Senketsu would make sure it was safe before she wore it. Nonon & Satsuki's deaths forced Sanageyama to stay with Ragyo, and though they had detonated enough cities to form one final ring of towns around Tokyo, their government started rebelling once they thought they'd need amnesty.

We stayed in Fuji for a week, and once it was clear Sanageyama wasn't coming, Ryuko obtained one last motorcycle. We pulled up an hour away from Tokyo. A solid wall of Life Fibers was around the ring in the distance.

"...probably'll kill everyone once she sees us." she muttered.

'There's - not much we can do about that.' Aikuro's lack of grief was in my mind. 'Can't even get the vaccines in. Only choice is to kill her. Right?'

She nodded. I thought we were about to talk about something deep or recount how we got to this point, but she decided not to indulge the clichè. The engine revved up, and we started up the road. Every town we drove through was either dead or evacuated.

'Love you.' I whispered to her neck, but the wind didn't have any flies to blast.

"Love you too." Her eyes were on the wall. "Should be able to just, uh - slice right through it."

'Or burn it up.'

"Or burn it up. We'll figure something out."

We were fifteen minutes away when the drought started again, and megaspeakers on the wall warned us away. Sanageyama was following us close enough that meteors would appear right above us, but my explosions would shred them before they hit us. The city's volume climbed up until we hit five minutes left, then sank down in to the sound of the engine & storm we rode in to until we were standing right at the thousand-foot wall.

Ryuko sliced through it and found it a hundred feet thick, and Senketsu's sawblade ate the rest up in to a Tokyo street. Every corpse we saw had its face torn off and hanging like branches with screaming lampshades on their ends. For the next thirty minutes, we searched Tokyo in heavy weather. My fire set every building alight, Ryuko ripped up buildings and demolished entire avenues in one sweep.

Meteorology still couldn't do anything against our counters. I started laughing thinking about how frustrated Sanageyama must've been, but we still didn't know if Ragyo had another ability. His meteors started demolishing buildings in other avenues, outraged at our survival, and I had a true purple rain going too. The blaze was dulling down to blue in the distance, white further than that, and a speck of orange in to red. From what I had read, Tokyo took six hours to walk through, but we had carved out two quarters of it by the time we got to where the rain's weight pushed my fire out.

Fog filled the next avenue, and as we entered, we heard someone shouting up ahead -

\- and the weather stopped; we saw Ragyo two hundred feet ahead -

\- and her nails through Sanageyama's chest, absorbing his uniform.

Ryuko halted next to me as Ragyo saw us and laughed. "If you're curious - there's no one left, now!" She discarded Sanageyama's corpse. "I only needed one last conduit for Shinra!"

"Careful." muttered Ryuko. I nodded, forgetting she couldn't see my head.

"And everyone else in Tokyo - but it's a small price to pay for my daughter coming back to me!"

"Your daughter's in twenty fucking pieces in the ocean!" shouted Ryuko, readying to stomp beside as Ragyo's head shook.

"Satsuki wasn't my only daughter, Ryuko!"

We didn't buy her rambling.

"You never wondered why Isshin never mentioned your mother? What did he tell you?" She laughed again. "A high-level REVOCS employee - who created Junketsu, and after stealing my precious younger daughter away - Senketsu!"

Ryuko's eyes rolled -

\- and a volley of bullets carved Ragyo's face; she shrieked as she staggered back, no words left but one before the next hit her -

" - Shinra!" she shouted; the ground started to rumble ahead -

\- and below; and left, and right; the ground shook everywhere around us -

\- and something utterly titanic burst out of the ground ahead, shattering and starting to vacuum the entire city in with it -

" - run back!" shouted Ryuko; we turned with the speed of light, titanic vortex behind swallowing concrete, roads, skyscrapers and buildings in its wake, rubble shattering as we ran ran desperately up the sides -

' - Worldwide!" I shouted, gripping Ryuko tight; a stone burst out of my hand -

\- and she yanked us up to it; another boulder & yank brought us above the enormous vortex swallowing everything behind, spinning and chewing as we boulder & yanked, weaving past falling skyscrapers, wall of Life Fibers collapsing on the distance as the ground churned to rubble below -

" - just - distance! Need distance!" shouted Ryuko, another strand bursting out for the boulder; I didn't dare look back, and I could barely hear her despite her being right next to me.

After another minute like that, we landed outside of where the barrier had been, to at last turn -

' - fuck.' I sputtered, relevantly -

\- to our foe in Tokyo's center, a red globe of Life Fibers that felt as big as the moon, millions of tendrils bursting out of it. There was rubble everywhere, but we heard Ragyo screaming again, and in the next instant -

\- a hundred tendrils scooped up a hundred pieces of her, and we knew she was dead.

'Her - it - her own uniform killed her?' I sputtered -

" - kill it first!" shouted Ryuko, and her voice whipped me back as we ran back in to a barely-standing avenue. I didn't know how we'd start, but we had to get to the core first. Shattered skyscrapers turned in to paths ahead, and all around us were tendrils shooting past us like snakes in self-made grass; my explosions kept them off of us, but tendrils were starting to cover the sky, and in the next instant -

\- green rain started to pour out of them; I figured out it was acid, so geysers of water burst up above -

\- and diluted every last drop, keeping us safe as we kept our run going - but we had another problem then. My water's geysers couldn't keep up with our pace, and a few drops corroded holes in our uniform -

" - fire it in to me!" shouted Ryuko; I put my fireice hands on her -

\- and Senketsu expelled water every way it needed to be as we kept our rush going. The core felt like an hour ahead, but we didn't have a choice but to counter. We started up again, but in the next instant -

\- a wall of tendrils burst up ahead; veering right to avoid it, we turned -

\- right in to another; we glanced back -

\- and new walls of red sprouted up to surround us. Ground-arm sweeping, tunnels got suddenly carved out of the asphalt ahead -

\- and we both sighed at its red occupants; before we could react, geysers of water started bursting out of the walls. A solid roof formed overhead, vines hanging and lashing at us as our prison was flooded, Ryuko & I trying to fight it -

" - is it -" - another slash - " - copying?!"

I tried to respond, but the water was coming up to our necks; more tendrils burst out of the water to press us down, tendrils at the bottom shoving the air from our lungs -

\- but the next scene was instant. I filled both our lungs with water, careful electrical current claiming it and oxygen extracted from the liquid -

\- and new air filled our throats as Senketsu reconfigured, sucking every last drop of liquid from the area -

\- and a thousand of his own jets slashed every last wall to bits, keeping us safe as we kept our constant run going, Ryuko still coughing as we rushed.

"Why - didn't you just use your wind?" she winced -

\- and I realized I didn't have an answer. Shrugging my headless shoulders, more tendrils slithered behind us -

\- but a swift stomp burst up a stone barrier to block them; and a hundred icicles pierced the rabid beasts as we kept going. Every now and then, something clogged would go up through the core's veins; I realized then it was absorbing every Tokyo corpse, but we didn't know if it had an ability less than "everything."

More tendrils appeared above; we tensed -

\- and two trillion-volt lightning bolts hit us; I heard (what I realized later was) every electronic in the area shattering as we ran. Rubble was getting thrown at us, but Ryuko's blades started carving through each, and as one split a chunk of concrete in half -

\- a cloud of yellow&white burst instantly outward; we swept with the speed of light back, and as her blade sliced through another -

\- the acid within corroded a hole through her blades; catching it quick, I started blasting them away with wind as she repaired her weapons, a dozen pieces of rubble flying at me -

\- but a swift wind threw them back -

\- but a swifter wind threw them around&back to me; I spun with new gusts to blast them back, but we couldn't last forever like that, so as another volley flew at us -

\- the next scene was instant. I stomped; a ring of stone burst up from the ground, ice-arm covering them with frozen barriers -

\- and in to the sudden shields bashed the projectiles as we kept our run going. I had my ice&earth&wind focused on that, new halls of stone forming to shield us as we ran ahead -

\- but I groaned as I saw new tendrils burst up ahead, chunks of acid-infused rubble forming in their grips -

" - got it!" shouted Ryuko as they flew at her, blades drawn and webs forming over them -

\- and she batted the volley right back in to their bearers, clearing a path for us ahead as we kept going. I stomped as we ran and felt tendrils under the ground, purple flames disintegrating them as we rushed. Ryuko gripped me with one glove -

" - going to strand!" she shouted, and I was thankful for the warning as a strand hit the ground ahead -

\- but a swift tendril severed the connection, covered in spinning spikes that carved right through it; we halted quick, and I noticed every other tendril had grown the same way - but we had no time to rest.

The horde had us surrounded soon; we shot back-to-back, but even our uniforms could barely stand swipes from their sharp edges. My wind&fire blasted inferno winds through them, but more would sprout and slash my others open if I wasn't careful. I heard Ryuko grunting and dodging off my back a few times, and I knew even she was having trouble with it; but I had a new idea then.

I stomped, and in the next instant -

\- a hundred stone pillars burst out of the ground to form around the tendrils, trapping them within; thinking we were safe, we started our run up again, leaving the prisoners behind as we rushed over new rubble -

\- but I heard them break out behind; instincts too quick, I swept to Ryuko's back as two tried to slash her -

\- and thankfully, losing my injector arms wasn't as bad as the first or second time; but they were slithering up on us again. I stomped -

\- and filled the stone prisons with fire this time; Ryuko glanced back, but six arms told her not to bother bringing the two limp limbs back. What tendrils we saw in the sky were still sharp, but my stone&fire was keeping them away, until the next one burst up ahead. I stomped -

\- and it swayed back to avoid the pillar -

\- but the next scene was instant. Dusts of pebble had been kicked up from our running; grabbing a good volley, my wind arm blast it forward, ground arm solidifying it to a solid blade -

\- that cleaved right through our foe and the other dozens that were behind it, another counter down. Skyscrapers started appearing around us, tendrils rebuilding them as we rushed.

"Is - it's gotta be creation or something, right?" winced Ryuko -

' - it's - maybe, right?' I panted, and she nodded as her eyes rose -

" - the spikes are gone - it can't, uh - only one thing at a time?" she said, and in the next instant -

\- a dozen skyscrapers fell towards us -

\- but it was the easiest counter for us; Ryuko's blades sliced right through them before it even hit us. Tokyo was getting rebuilt all around us, but only for buildings used as ammunition for the monster on the distance. Beams of blue light erupted from their windows -

\- but my ice swallowed the sun rays & solar beams as we kept up. Explosions erupted around us, but we both were resistant. We had a break until it realized, so I tried to joke to keep our stress low -

' - remember when Makoto was our biggest issue?' I said, and she started laughing -

" - did you seriously - what did she even say about the - her sister?"

' - I, uh - nothing.' I mumbled, and she started cackling -

" - you can tell me!"

'It's - let's just focus on this!' I shouted, relevantly, and she grinned as we kept running.

All around us were tendrils growing through the streets; we were still far from the core, but in the next instant -

\- the ground rumbled; I gripped Ryuko and jumped up -

\- and the entire area turned to lava, boiling immense heat even I couldn't stand alone, and as we fell -

\- a swift geyser of water formed a stone platform for us; we landed on it, more water erupting around as our platform tottered in the sea of magma -

" - focus on - that!" shouted Ryuko as hundreds of tendrils burst out of the lava around us; hoping I was right, I kept my spray of water going for the platform, and as globs of lava flew towards us -

\- the next scene was instant. Ryuko spun with the speed of light, Senketsu bullets bursting out of her palms and expanding mid-air -

\- and swallowing every last molten projectile with it; with no time to waste, we started rushing forward far more careful, constant spray of water forming new paths, ground arm ready if we needed to stone&yank again. The core was on an island of stone in the sea of lava ahead, but it was still miles to go. One tendril burst up ahead like a dragon from a moat -

\- but a dozen jets of water tore its body to bits. Behind us, I felt new tendrils burst out of the lava; their wind tried to suck us in -

\- but only received spiked boulders for their troubles -

\- that cleaved through another dozen. The lava started to fade ahead, and another mile of platforms brought us to mangled streets again. Twice I did the same fissure trick I had with Gamagoori; they burst up from the ground too, but Ryuko's strands tore them clear out of the concrete. Tentacles tried to grip us as we ran, but my water made us slick, and explosions of electricity killed them if Ryuko didn't.

We had a lull for the next minute, but in the next instant -

\- minuscule tendrils burst out of the ground&to our boots; we cut & burned them off before they got above our ankles, but in the next instant -

\- cages of steel appeared around our boots, stopping suddenly our step; we grunted and thrashed, more tendrils lashing at our ankles below. At my side, Ryuko shouted for Senketsu -

\- and sawblades from her boots carved the steel prison to metal shards; I was still trapped, but an electrical current entered the metal -

\- and I sighed as I felt insulating tendrils swallow my volley within, more bursting up behind us -

\- but Ryuko cut them in half, and as she raised her blade to my legs -

' - I've got it!' I shouted, and she nodded. (Admittedly, I wasn't sure if she would've risked severing & reattaching my legs.) Stone layers formed around my boots, growing and pressing up against the metal prison -

\- and it shattered open in the next, freeing me as I ran alongside Ryuko again, new tendrils trying the same trick but finding it useless. Once they were done, I heard them burrowing underground again, and in the next instant -

\- the ground turned to water; we weren't quick enough to not fall in to the ocean that time, and as Ryuko readied to absorb as we fell in -

\- I gripped her tight and used my wind-arm that time, assured breath for both of us as a massive whirlpool formed ahead -

\- and sucked us right in; Ryuko shot a quick strand to keep us tethered together, but more tendrils were dipping in to the whirlpool, spinning deeper and throwing knives in to the current to slash our uniforms. My head truly reeled with sickness then; I tried to counter the current with my gusts, but a hasty tendril would always come from the center to block it, and after another dozen spins around in the depths -

" - mmmf! Mmf!" shouted Ryuko, gesturing to her back and pointing to the center; carefully nodding, I placed my wind-arm on her back, and as she nodded again -

\- a gust blew her with the strength of a million in to the center; a dozen tendrils burst up to block her -

\- but Senketsu's sawblade carved through every last, and as it spun with the speed of light at the center, more threw themselves in to the spinning current to try to clog it -

\- but only got more blades for their trouble; sudden terror in her eyes, Ryuko threw a strand to me -

\- and it felt like every tendril burrowed up to block it from hitting me; but I realized her plan then. Terror morphing to a grin, a second sawblade burst out of Senketsu, spinning unimpeded, and as the tendrils tried desperately to swim back in -

\- my electricity staggered them back, whirlpool starting to dissipate as her saws spun spun -

\- to at last throw us through the water back to our foe ahead; Ryuko shot a quick strand to me as I shot past her, and I gave her new breath as we burst out of the water above. A platform of ice formed, and up we climbed back to the ground.

"Much better." she chimed, relevantly, and we started up a new avenue. Fissures split the ground ahead, but my own stomps stitched the road's wounds back together; the ground started to rumble, but it was only earthquakes that time.

It tried to imitate Sanageyama for a while, meteors and rain erupting out of tendrils above, but it found us as stubborn as he had. It even tried to copy Gamagoori's swell tendril by forming walls of steel & every other metal it could find, but Ryuko's claws tore right through them, and my purple boulders blasted holes through every last.

On the horizon, I saw the tendrils on its opposite end start fading out and trying to reinforce ahead of us. More skyscrapers popped up from the ground ahead; more tentacles gripped them tight and threw them to us -

" - I've got it!" shouted Ryuko -

\- and I laughed like a true fiend at the next instant scene. Senketsu's tendrils burst out of the ground, expanding and growing to catch every last skyscraper -

\- and smashing them like enormous hammers in to the field of tendrils again, bashing and crushing thousands in single strikes. It decided not to give us any more ammunition after that, and we kept our laugh going as we started running again.

We were finally closer; Shinra was still miles away, but the maze of brambles was even thicker ahead, hundreds of thousands of tendrils bursting up to keep it safe. We didn't have any range for quick counters anymore, so we rushed right up to the red and started fighting. Senketsu tendrils burst up all around us to slash their brethren away, and she managed to stitch our wounds as we stomped forward. Inch by inch, our strikes carved it further back, but they were growing more durable by the second -

" - heat me up!" she shouted; a puff of purple hit her blades -

\- and the scorching scissors started slashing with the speed of sound through the final field, tearing and ripping the hairs out of the rubble's scalp; behind her, explosions boulders smashed&rolled through every new tendril that sprouted up behind. Tornado-gusts kept to our sides, and I kept close to Ryuko as my water-arm dried out what tentacles survived her.

They were throwing lava, gas, missiles and everything they could at us; more meteors appeared above -

\- but a swift wind propelled it right to the core -

\- and I sighed as I lost sight of any damage I might've done, new Life Fibers blocking my vision. I tried not to think of it actually being endless, and Ryuko had a dozen Senketsu swords on her arms, sawblades on her boots carving red chunks out of the asphalt below. Arcs of water drenched foes we hadn't even met yet, and bolts of electricity would follow the drops and kill another hundred I couldn't see.

I couldn't tell if we were even halfway through the fucking thing. Even my six arms were starting to tire, and Ryuko's blades were slowing after minutes like that. They started covering themselves in acid, and though Ryuko could continually stitch her blades my ice kept my other arms safe, if we lost any of our weapons, it'd be over.

"Gotta - find a better way -" she panted; a ring of red burst up around us; hundreds of missiles burst out of them -

\- but an enormous Senketsu web caught every last, throwing them back to their owners; I gripped Ryuko tight with my explosive arm, but we still had wounds by the time the reflected barrage completed -

" - are you fucking kidding me?!"

\- the hydras had regrown, but the next scene was instant.

A puff of purple disintegrated the ground, and in to the sudden burrow we fell; there wasn't any lava or water underground, and my ground-arm let me burrow like an enormous drill as we started running. We felt the tendrils enter from behind -

' - fucking retards!' I laughed as I turned back, Ryuko laughing at my side again -

\- and a guillotine of Senketsu chopped every last's head off. I tapped the floor&walls to ice and heard them knocking just like Gamagoori had, but we dealt with much fewer tentacles at a time then -

" - heat up!" she shouted again; confused, a puff of purple hit her again -

\- and a Senketsu strand carrying a purple chainsaw slashed through the next swarm ahead, constant ice slickening our trek as we kept up our pace. The tunnel whittled our advance over millions to just thousands; Ryuko halted at one spot -

\- and a strand burst out of her glove in to the ceiling; nodding to me, a puff of purple hit the roof -

\- to at last stand right below the fucking thing, just thirty feet above us.

"Clear some space!" she shouted; I stomped -

\- and the shockwave cleared a ring around us, more tendrils squeezing through Shinra's crevices to greet us, lava filling our sudden arena -

\- but a geyser of water turned it stone -

\- and my fire disintegrated it; Ryuko crouched down at my side, and in the next instant -

\- she shot up in to the core, slashing and tunneling a handhold through, and I knew my role then. More roots were entering, but I had something up my six sleeves; six arms swept forward -

" - fire! Ice! Explosion! Wind! Ground! Lightning!" I shouted, and in the next instant -

\- a minuscule puff of water erupted out of my palms, and a few pebbles followed.

Deciding on a new tactic, I stomped down; a dozen boulders burst out of the ground, and a swift wind turned them to ice blasted them away -

\- and an explosion tore them in to a hundred sharp shards, slicing through the weeds still all around, purple spray for whatever got close. Ryuko landed behind me and shot back through it again; I heard her shouting as she slashed at its innards, but didn't have time to focus.

A ring of purple flame burst up around me; steam filled the arena as tendrils covered in water shot through, but only in time -

\- for my wind&ice to freeze the mist solid, explosions slicing them to bits as I kept trying to laugh. My wind had to give me new breath a few times; Ryuko landed behind me again, and I warned her what I was going to do before she shot up again. Shinra was starting to crack, but more tendrils shot in to the arena, trying to chase after Ryuko -

\- but the next scene was instant. I stomped, and a platform of stone burst up below me; I stomped again for a second lower tier, tendrils still writhing towards me below -

\- but a puff of purple turned the arena in to my own lava; they started thrashing as if outraged, water trying to cool them off before they melted -

\- but bolts of electricity out of my uniform started charring each to ash, and I had the feeling they couldn't break through then. My ground&fire swept for geysers of magma out of my palms, eyeless vision sharp for its next counter. Above, I heard her grunting and shouting inside; all the tendrils started wilting around me, and as I heard another final slash -

" - here!" she shouted as she landed next to me, holding the gray robe, and every tendril fell limp in to the lake. The globe started to fall on us - Ryuko's strands gripped it tight, my own wind keeping it up as she grunted with dug-in boots -

\- and threw it clear off of us. My water doused the lava, and we stood in the ruins as the field of red rotted in Tokyo, moon-sized beast unfurling like a kicked yarn in the distance.

"It - it was inside." she grunted and panted.

Once we saw it starting to rot, we sat for a few minutes with our red mops of hair. She stitched her wounds together, and donated a few strands to fix my uniform.

"...S-Senketsu." she muttered, tapping her blades on the robe. "Is it safe?"

She paused, nodded, and her expression darkened.

"…you know. Nudist Beach hasn't released the vaccine, right? How to make it?"

'What?'

Her grin widened. "They can't do shit against us, right? We can keep the parasites - and we can keep the world enslaved. I can just absorb this robe."

Her smile scared me.

"King Outcast - and Queen Ryuko. Right?"

'I - Ryuko, what are you doing?'

"I want to be with you - forever. My boyfriend. We can kill Nudist Beach - we can destroy the vaccines, keep the parasites, and we can conquer -"

\- she burst out laughing - " - okay, okay! I'm - Senketsu - I'm joking, I'm joking -"

\- I sighed relief just as loud as he must have -

' - don't - don't scare me like that, fuck -' I panted, and she cackled.

"I had to do it!"

'I - I guess.'

I decided not to mention that I would've gone along with it.

* * *

She gave the robe to Aikuro once we got back to Sunbreaker, and he analyzed it enough to tell us there wasn't any threat left. I decided not to tell him I had thought about murdering him. The fatigue dissipated over the world once she wore used it, and we left Nudist Beach once we were done. She had smiled as we said goodbye to the high-ranks, but like usual, it was only to me.

Over the next months, we received amnesty for our efforts, though enough of Japan had been destroyed that the government wouldn't have been able to prosecute us anyway. Nudist Beach had chosen to keep how to make the vaccine a secret, and with how disastrous everything else had gone, everyone in the world abandoned their uniforms except us.

Aikuro had improved on Senketsu and given him some free movement, and though I still couldn't hear him talk, he learned to write letters as best as a pencil could fit in a schoolgirl sleeve. He stayed mostly with Aikuro, ended up learning how to use a phone, then had Aikuro's luck in interrupting our sessions. I still didn't understand it, but I didn't need to so long as Ryuko was happy.

"Generator's off again!" shouted Ryuko from the bedroom, and I sighed as my six arms went taut.

'I'll check it!'

I heard her laughing as I walked outside. We had rebuilt her childhood home, and my elements provided most of the amenities we needed. I bashed our generator for another month of electricity & internet. When I went back inside, she was on the couch watching the news. China and the United States had both offered to help rebuild Japan at a small discount, but nationalist groups were waging a valiant struggle on social media.

"Like this shit even affects us." she yawned, and I laughed as I sat down.

'Never know. They might figure out who's stealing that food.' I chimed, and she laughed. My ground-arm made burrowing in to stores even easier than before.

"Maybe." She grinned. "Might have to fight off a few tanks."

'We've still got the robe.'

"Yeah, but I'm not risking trying to summon, uh - whatever that was." she laughed. "Just gotta keep it for the durability."

'Yeah.'

I started to think, and my face made her head cock.

"...feeling alright?"

'I… yeah. Just - yeah. Did, um - did you sleep alright?'

She nodded and we kissed. Both of us had been having nightmares of Satsuki coming back, and even my most violent student reputation hadn't blocked out the day we spent with her. I didn't feel any guilt for what we did, but the fear we had suppressed for the past months was only just starting to leak in & drip out.

"I slept good." She smiled. "Let's, uh… wanna take a shower?"

'…give me a minute. I'll get in with you.'

"Sure."

She went out of the room, and I went outside. I hadn't cleared the leaves in a while. A real mess was starting up, but my fire&wind&ice cleaned it up before I went back inside to Ryuko.

**[THE END]**

**[[The leaves are symbolic, get it,because Outcast starts the story by cleaning for Satsuki and wanting to live off the grid and having a lawn that's barely trimmed but NOW he's mature and - anyway.**

**A heartwarming ultraviolent story about someone's continued obsession with their waifu.]]**


End file.
